An Unusual Princess
by nobodD
Summary: Kousaka Honoka is a princess with an extraordinary gift. Of course in a land of magic, monsters, and advanced technology, she is far from safe. But when a mercenary contract goes wrong, she'll find herself pulled into an adventure she never would have dreamed of. Adventure/Romance AU, starring KotoHono as main pairing.
1. The Royal Family

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

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><p>Clear blue skies, bright shining sun. A gentle breeze ruffling the countless blades of grass across the land, as well as the leaves resting upon the trees. A scene like this was usually the sign of another promising day to come.<p>

However there was someone who didn't enjoy this scenery. For this individual, the scene was one she was all too familiar with. It was a sight she was forced to view for days and days on end. It wasn't that she didn't like the weather, because she enjoyed it sometime before. However the sight now brought on an all-too-familiar feeling, something that she really did hate.

"I'm... so... bored."

With a heavy sigh, the girl sitting by the window closed the book in her hands. She had been reading it for the last few hours, while the sky had still been dark. Although reading wasn't the proper word to use. She has read the book before, about twenty times or so since the last time she kept track. It was one of the only books from her shelves that she still somewhat enjoyed, although even this book was beginning to lose her interest as well. But in terms of picking a book to blankly stare at the pages in order to pass time, this was one of her top choices.

The young girl stood up from her table, holding the book against her chest. She took one last glance outside the window before she walked away. She made her way to the bookshelf that inhabited her big room. Though once she reached it, she frowned.

Because her room was big, some of her furniture were of similar size compared to what normal people would have. This bookshelf was no exception, boasting 10 shelves worth of books. The book she had in her arms belonged on the second highest shelf. While she was perfectly capable of using the ladder that rested against the bookshelf herself, she was constantly advised not to do so.

Given the time of day it was, and how slow the morning has been so far, she guessed that it wouldn't be a problem this time. She placed her foot on the first step of the ladder. Of course, the door to her room opened the moment she did. Another young girl peeked inside.

"Honoka-sama, what are you doing?" the newcomer asked.

"I just wanted to put this book back on the shelf," Honoka answered, meeting the maid's gaze.

"You know how everyone feels about things like this though."

"I know... But it's not like I can't do a little thing like this on my own."

"I know, but you have to remember that you're a princess, Honoka-sama. Your family has the maid staff for a reason. You have to let us do our jobs."

Honoka sighed. "I know... I'm sorry."

The maid walked up to Honoka and Honoka handed her the book. She watched as the maid climbed the ladder and placed the book back onto high shelf.

"Thank you," Honoka said as the maid climbed off the ladder

"My pleasure," the maid responded, curtsying. "If you would like, I could keep you company until your lessons."

"Are you sure? You don't have anything you need to do?"

The maid nodded. "I am your personal maid after all. Your needs are always my top priority."

"You would think I would be used to that idea after hearing you say that since we were kids."

"Well you never were a selfish person."

"I suppose." Honoka smiled. "Well then, I would like you to keep me company for the day."

"As you wish, Honoka-sama."

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><p>"Otou-sama, can I ask a question?"<p>

"What is it, Yukiho?"

"Why do I have to learn these things?"

"It's important for successors to the crown to learn how to run the country."

"But Onee-sama will succeed you first."

"It doesn't matter. It's important for _all_ successors to be taught. Should a national emergency arise and something happen to us or your sister, you must be the one to lead in our place."

"I guess that makes sense... I just wish it wasn't so boring."

"I know it isn't fun for a young girl to learn about politics and military tactics. But I had to start learning from my parents at your age, and your sister did as well. It's simply tradition."

"Okay..." She typed another line in before pausing as a thought occurred to her. She turned and wrapped her arms around her father." Otou-sama, please don't let anything bad happen to our family."

A smile touched his face. He wrapped an arm around his daughter and held her tightly. "I'll protect you all as best as I can."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Excuse me, Kousaka-sama?" another voice came.

He looked up at the newcomer, right away recognizing who she was. She was wearing a different uniform from the other maids and even from the family's personal maids.

"What is it?" He asked the chief maid.

She held up a folded piece of paper. "This letter just came in."

His eyes widened slightly, recognizing the seal on the letter. He nodded, signaling that the maid could approach. She walked forward to the end of the table opposite of them, placing the letter close to the center

Yukiho watched as her father carefully opened the letter and read its contents. After he finished reading, he sighed.

"And here I was thinking this was something important." He stood up, then looked to Yukiho. "Sorry sweetie, I have to prepare to meet with someone. But-"

"But I still have to continue with this?" Yukiho asked.

He nodded. "It won't be for much longer, so just endure it."

Yukiho watched as her father walked away and left the room. One of the maids standing by, her father's personal maid, came up and took his seat. Yukiho sighed as she got back to work.

_I wonder what Onee-sama is doing right now_, she thought.

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><p>In another part of the castle, a room held almost completely still. The only sound that could be heard was a low humming. Gradually, the humming got louder. And louder. And louder still. Once it could easily heard, a light starting shining. It was a pale light, but like the volume of the humming, the light's intensity slowly grew. On the ground, shining in the same white light, was a circle. As the humming and glowing continued, a crest drew itself within the circle.<p>

One girl stood in the center of it all. Her focus was toward the wall several meters in front of her, lined with targets. Without taking her eyes off the center-most target, she spoke the last phrase and lifted the rapier in her hand in a fluid motion. The glowing symbols below her flashed brightly as her spell came to life. Several lights shaped like swords appeared around her, suspended in mid-air. With a downward swipe of her rapier, those blades of light flew forward, and had pierced their targets within the next second.

Honoka could only frown as she looked at the results of her spell. While most of the 30 light projectiles she casted hit any of the 5 targets, only 3 of them hit close to the center of a target. She turned away from the targets to look at the only three other people in the large training room. One was her maid, who had a nervous smile on her face. The other was another maid, belonging to the third person who Honoka was mainly looking at.

"Okaa-sama, let me try again," Honoka said to the older woman.

Her mother shook her head. "I think that's enough for today, sweetie."

"But I can't finish like this. I have to do better."

"While I admire your determination, you need to learn when to take a break."

"But-"

"Honoka," her mother cut her off. "Tell me, you feel disappointed with that last spell, correct?"

"Of course I do!"

"And you're still feeling that disappointment, right?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"So if I let you go again, and you were still feeling disappointment, don't you think that would affect your next spell? And the next spell after that and so on?"

Honoka thought about her mother's words for a minute. "... You're right. Sorry."

"However..." Her mother stepped forward, unsheathing her own rapier. "I'll give you another chance if you can beat me in a duel."

"Eh? But I thought you wanted me to take a break?"

"I only explained why you should take a break. But you still don't want to take a break, do you?"

Honoka smiled. "You're completely right, once again."

"Of course. Now, let's begin."

Honoka's maid sat and watched with her own smile as mother and daughter fought in a friendly duel. Between blade strikes and spell casts, the maid couldn't help but describe the scene as some kind of dance. A dance with a lot of lights.

The duel only lasted a few minutes. After the thrilling conclusion, the mother sat back down on the bench with the two maids. She noted the smile on Honoka's maid's face.

"Something on your mind?" the mother asked.

"You let her win, didn't you?" Honoka's maid asked.

The mother kept her eyes focused on her daughter, but she showed a smile.

"Of course I did."

"And the reason for that?"

"There was no way she would quietly sit down and take a break even if she lost. She's my daughter, after all. Quitting is never an option."

"And considering her mental state earlier, you gave her a bit of a confidence boost?"

The mother only nodded and continued watching Honoka as she resumed practice. The maid turned her attention back to her master as well.

"She's going to become a great mage as well."

"That's not true," the mother said. "She'll become one of the greatest mages ever. We just need to find a way for her to control all her power."

"Right... The extra power."

"So, how does it feel to be The Chosen's personal maid?" The mother's maid asked playfully.

"Not all that different until I'm reminded of the fact."

There were several piercing sounds that came from the other end of the room. The maid's turned from each other to look down at the targets again. Honoka's maid smiled.

"30 perfect shots."

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><p>Meanwhile in the capital city's upper quarter, a cloaked figure sat atop one of the residential buildings. He had a clear view of the castle that rested in the center of the city. He was also out of sight of the citizens, which was good for him. He wasn't from around here, and the less attention he brought to himself, the better.<p>

The cloaked man heard the soft taps of a pair of shoes landing on the rooftop. He turned briefly to see who it was. Once he recognized the other cloaked figure, he turned back to the castle.

"Well?" He asked the newcomer.

"Our intelligence was correct," the second figure, a female, answered.

"Then the passage is secured?"

"Yes. We can infiltrate the castle at night, when they change the guards."

"Excellent."

"Well, if that is all." The girl turned to leave.

"Hmm? Where are you going?"

"Back into town," she answered, unfastening her cloak and packing it neatly into her bag. "There was something interesting I saw during recon, and I want to have another look."

"Something interesting?"

"Just some jewelry."

He gave her on last look before turning away to the castle again. "Well, just don't go spending the rest of our money. We still need everything we can get until this contract is done."

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm used to window shopping by now."

"Don't get caught, then."

"Who do you think I am?" she asked sarcastically before jumping off the roof.

Ignoring the remark, he allowed himself one last glance at the castle before he looked away, pulling out a letter from his pocket. It was the contract, and while it had a lot of minor details, the most important one was near the top.

_Capture the Princess, Alive._

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><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**Alright well *claps hands* here goes my first attempt at AU. Well, it may be. As always with my stories, this first chapter is for me to see if you guys are interested in the story continuing. SO! Let me know in the reviews. **

**Something to think about, the only named characters are the Kousaka family (more specifically just Honoka and Yukiho). Why? Because, I've been pretty indecisive on the specifics for this story. So! In addition to deciding whether or not this story gets to live, you guys are going to make a few story decisions (yay?)**

**Here are the questions. Let me know your thoughts in reviews**

**1.) Should I include romance in this story? Or do you think it is better without it?**

**2.) If you think there should be Romance, who would you like to be paired with Honoka?**

**3.) Would you like other pairings to be included?**

**That's all from me. If this story lives on, I'll see you in the next update. If not, well I hope to see you in my other stories~**


	2. of Knights and Guilds

**Satsuki Rin: Don't worry, I wasn't ignoring my own opinions. I actually had a lot of different introductions thought out, and was just too indecisive to pick one. So I wanted to let the readers choose.**

**Major Mike Powell III: That is indeed a fact of life, lol X3 And as far as your prediction... I'm going to disappoint you and say that it's wrong. However, hopefully you'll be happier after this chapter. **

**NicoxMaki: Haha, sorry but I'm planning on this being single pairing and not a harem. Need a break after the one I did before and the one I started recently, X3**

**Guest (no name): Similar response to NicoxMaki, I'm going to stay away from harem for this story. Of course, we're still keeping the fun, haha.**

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

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><p>The girl walked through the streets lined with buildings. She knew because of her contract that this was part of the Upper Quarter of the Capital City, Zenethra. It was considered the higher class living area. That's in contrast to the Lower Quarter, with the not-as-fortune citizens of Zenethra. But considering it was the capital city of the Izolle continent, they weren't poor by any stretch of the imagination.<p>

It was almost only that fact which brought the girl to despise this city and the Knights, who were the military force for the Royal Family. Something that grew increasingly clear to her, was just how ignorant this city was from the rest of the world. The citizens here had the luxury of being pampered and protected by the Royal Family and the Knights. And they were extremely pampered. If you compared the poorest person living in this city to the richest person in the next city several kilometers over, the poor person living here still has substantially more money.

It was almost sad in a way to the girl. Her grudge actually had nothing to do with the Royal Family directly. In fact, to everywhere outside Zenethra, it was well known that the Knights act out on their own without the Royal Family knowing. The Royal Family themselves were very kind, which made it easier for the Knights to manipulate them and abuse their power. In fact, if it wasn't for the castle being directly in the center of Zenethra, this city might have become a victim of the Knight's corruption like the rest of the continent.

Her family had left the continent before she was born, so she wasn't native here. Yet, her first visit to this continent was a few mercenary jobs, and her first visit to the capital was to capture the first princess. According to her parents, her brother, and to most people she knew back home, the princess was very important. The Knights, while they do sneak around the Royal Family, are still loyal in that they protect and serve the Family. Capturing the first princess in line for the throne would allow negotiations with the Knights.

"I still don't see why no one has tried to tell the Royal Family directly," the girl said to herself.

She never really understood politics, nor did she like resorting to these kind of methods to do anything, despite where she lived and grew up. While cities on the Izolle continent were exploited by the Knights, they were still given services from the Royal Family, like protection. Her home town, as well as that continent in general, didn't get that luxury. Not that any of them complained, as they fled to that continent with the intent of escaping the lifestyle here on Izolle. They wanted nothing to do with the Royal Family and the Knights. Because of that, they learned to fend for themselves. Of course, sometimes they resorted to fights for just about everything. While she grew up in these conditions, she still never liked first resorting to violence.

"Well, well, look what we have here."

The new voice had snapped the girl out of her thoughts. She looked ahead, finding a man blocking her path, smiling.

"What do you want?" the girl asked, annoyed.

"What we want is you, little Miss," came a voice behind her.

She turned around, finally noticing the two other men that had flanked her.

"You're worth quite a lot of money right now, you know?" the third man said.

"Yeah, look at this," the first man in front of her said, holding out a piece of paper.

She turned to face forward again. The paper in the man's hand turned out to be a Wanted poster. Though, all it contained was a picture and the reward amount. There was no name.

"They make those things pretty fast," the girl remarked. "I've only been in this region for a week."

"So you _are_ the one in this poster. Good, looks like we'll get paid well today boys."

_So there are people like this even here, huh?_ the girl thought to herself. She sighed, then turned to her right and started walking.

"Where do you think you're going?" one of the men asked.

"If you're really confident you'll catch me, why not humor me a bit?" she asked, continuing to walk into the alleyway.

The men exchanged glances before they followed her into the alley.

If only they knew what they were getting into.

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><p>"And... Done."<p>

Honoka looked into the mirror as her maid took a step back from her chair. She turned her head to the left, and then to the right, inspecting herself. First her hair, then the necklace, then the dress. Her maid did her best to keep herself composed, but she was getting more nervous as Honoka continued to look herself in the mirror.

"Well...?" she asked.

Honoka sighed. "Well, I still cannot say that I'm disappointed with your work." She turned in her chair to face her maid with a smile. "Beautifully done once again, Maria-san."

Maria let out her held breath. "Thank you, Honoka-sama. But please, have a little more mercy on me. I cannot handle being held in suspense like that."

"Hehe, I'm sorry. Old habits die hard."

"Don't remind me..." Maria said with a sigh.

Honoka smiled again, then stood up. "Come on, now it's your turn."

"Eh? But Honoka-sama, I don't think-"

Honoka placed a finger on her maid's lips to interrupt. "Maria-san, it's okay. Otou-sama wants you and the other three to be with us for dinner tonight."

"Really?"

"Yup! Now come on, or we'll run out of time."

Maria smiled widely. "Hai!"

They switched places. Maria sat on the chair and Honoka stood behind her. She got to work getting her maid ready for dinner.

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><p>She took one last look around the alley. The bodies of the three men now lay unconscious on the ground or against one of the walls.<p>

"Not bad," she said to the unconscious figures. "You did well to stay conscious for as long as you did. Of course, that's while I wasn't using magic."

She sighed and turned away to exit the alley. Once she re-emerged onto the street, she looked up at the sky. The sun had lowered a significant amount since she went into the alley.

"I guess that took even longer than I thought..."

"I'll say. I didn't think you would toy with them for _that_ long nya~," came a new voice.

She spun around instantly, scanning behind her. But she didn't find anything at first. For a moment she thought she was just imagining things, but then she realized what was wrong. She looked up, finally spotting where the voice came from. It was a girl, sitting outside of a window on the second floor of the building. Against the setting evening sky, she could barely make out the girl's short, orange hair. But something she saw with absolute clarity, was her cat-like green eyes.

"Who are you?" the girl demanded at the newcomer.

"Nya, how rude," the orange-haired girl responded. "You're supposed to introduce yourself before you ask another person's name."

The girl jumped from the window, landing flawlessly onto the street. As the newcomer stood up straight, the girl noticed how young she was. She actually looked younger, but there was no way to know for sure. Though the girl did know something with absolute certainty about this cat-like girl, just from the uniform she was wearing.

"You're from the Knights."

"Roger that," the cat-girl said. "And you're from the capital city Dahngrest on the Telos Astue continent. You're the daughter of Wingul, who leads the head guild Aselia which governs the continent. Minami Kotori, correct?"

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "So you know me?"

"My dear, you're from the family and region that opposes the ideals of the Knights. And in the short time you've been on our land, you've caused quite a lot of trouble, specifically to the Knights. Of course we know about you. Now then..."

The knight snapped her fingers. Kotori's first guess was that she was summoning reinforcements. Though as she was about to turn, she felt her body move against her. Her arms were forced behind her and her legs had snapped together, causing her to fall onto the ground. It was while she was laying here that she was finally made aware of the thin wires that she was now wrapped in.

"Do you like?" the knight asked, unable to hold back a grin as she lowered herself a bit, leaning over Kotori. "Enchanted tripwires. Reinforced to suppressed magic and drugged enough to weaken your muscles, to keep you from breaking free."

"How impressive..." Kotori said bitterly.

"Aww don't worry. Once you're nice and safe in a jail cell, you'll be free from my little invention."

The knight straightened herself up again. She was looking in the opposite direction, but turned back to Kotori.

"Oh, and I haven't properly introduced myself have I? The name's Hoshizora Rin, Mesmer of the Knight's Elite Spec Ops Unit. Pleasure to meet you."

Kotori could only stare at Rin in disbelief.

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><p>Due to its size, the knocking at the door caused an echo throughout the dining hall. The King signaled for one of the maids on duty to respond. After a couple of seconds, the maid came back up to the table.<p>

"Your highness, it's one of the Elite Knights. She has a criminal captive, and wishes to know of her sentence."

He considered the maid's words. "Well, why is this being brought to me, and not the council?"

"Well... it's because of the captive. You see... she's from the Minami family."

At the mention of the family's name, the entire table froze. Within seconds, the King was on his feet. He turned to his maid sitting on his left.

"Clare, we must take care of this at once."

Clare was already getting to her feet. "Of course, my king."

The two quickly left the table with the reporting maid following close behind. The other six gathered at the table watched them leave, then returned to their dinner. After a few minutes of silence, Honoka had stood up.

"Finished already?" her mother asked.

Honoka nodded. "I lost my appetite. So I'll be excusing myself now."

She turned to walk away from the grand table. Maria seemed to have known as she was already out of her own chair and by Honoka's side. The two of them walked out together, making their way to Honoka's room. There was another few seconds of silence until those still at the table felt Honoka and Maria were out of range to hear them.

"Okaa-sama," Yukiho started. "Why did Otou-sama have to leave?"

Yukiho's personal maid shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Y-Yukiho-sama, I don't think-"

"It's alright, Haru," the mother interrupted, silencing the maid. "She was going to be told eventually."

"H-hai..."

The mother looked to Yukiho. "Minami Wingul and your father used to be close friends in their adolescence. They used to go to school together, practice magic and sword-fighting. They were nearly inseparable friends."

"Really?" Yukiho asked. "What happened?"

"Well, as close as they were, there was one big difference between them. They were both born of nobility, yet they had differing opinions on the kingdom. Your father was in favor of the way things have always been done, but Wingul wasn't. He kept speaking of corruption and manipulation, and that your father's eventual rise to the throne would make him a victim of it all. Of course, your father didn't believe it. After all, he never saw these issues himself, never experienced them, so why should he? And then..."

"Then..?"

The mother sighed before continuing. "There was a woman that Wingul met. Your father and I were recently engaged at the time, so I didn't know Wingul that well. But I had always been suspicious of that woman. I tried to convince your father, but at the time he was thinking more for his friend's happiness and didn't believe my doubts." She paused for a moment, then asked, "You remember the stories of Alexei, correct?"

Yukiho nodded. "He's a noble that tried to rule the world using dark magic."

"Yes. As it turns out, that woman was a descendent of Alexei. She had tainted Wingul, turning him to dark magic, and fueled it with Wingul's hate for the system used to rule Izolle. By the time we met Wingul again, your father had been recently crowned as the new king, with me alongside him as the queen. Wingul challenged your father for the crown. But he still had little control, even with the woman's help, and your father and I had bested them. But as this act was seen as a high crime, your father had no choice but to banish Wingul from Izolle. Since then, Wingul and that woman, who is now his wife, gathered others who shared his original hate for Izolle's government and left for Telos Astue. Under their system, the guild system, the Minami rule."

"I see... But... I still don't understand why Otou-sama had to leave."

"Well, Wingul's wife was a descendent of Alexei, so his dark magic runs through her blood. And by extension..."

"Their children are also users of dark magic," Yukiho finished, finally understanding the connection.

The mother nodded. "That's right. And dark magic is the complete opposite to our holy magic. If two sources of each magic were too close, there is the possibility that one source can completely corrupt the other."

"You mean... If we were to stay near one of them for too long... We'll turn to dark magic?"

"Correct. We would have been at risk if the Minami daughter were brought in here, even I would be, as my holy magic isn't what it used to be. But your father isn't at risk. His magic is very strong."

"And what about Onee-sama?"

The mother paused. She carefully considered her words before continuing.

"Your sister is somewhat an exception to us. Her magic completely exceeds that of your father's. She actually has more magic potential than anyone's seen in the last few centuries. However, she's unaware of her potential. She already has some trouble controlling magic because her emotions can cause her to lose focus easily, so we haven't revealed her potential to her yet in fear that it'll shatter her confidence. She has the power to be immune to the corruption, but without the proper control, she can be even easier to influence than you or me."

"Then, shouldn't we have more people watching her?"

For the first time in a while, the mother smiled. "You need not worry. We assigned Maria to your sister specifically for that reason. Being a descendent from Ally's family line," she indicated her personal maid to her right, "Maria has been specially trained to protect Honoka better than 10 of our Knights."

"But..."

The mother had since gotten up from her seat. She walked to Yukiho's seat and embraced her from behind.

"Don't worry, your sister is perfectly safe. I promise."

"...If you say so..."

The mother looked to Ally. "I think we should have deserts a little early tonight."

"I'll request it at once," Ally said, raising from her seat to leave for the kitchen.

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><p>He had watched from the rooftop as day turned to night. Still, there was no sign of her sister.<p>

"It's nearly time..." He said to himself. "Where's Kotori?"

At this point he started losing his patience.

"Forget it. If I wait any longer, I'll miss my chance. Guess I just have to do this on my own."

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><p>Their walk was quiet as they made their way to Honoka's room. But once they were inside, Maria asked the question that was bugging her the entire time.<p>

"Honoka-sama, you plan on visiting Minami's cell, don't you?" she asked.

Honoka turned to face her, and Maria saw an expression she hasn't seen on her master in several years. Her face was serious.

"I know you're here to make sure I'm safe and I don't do anything reckless, but I can't let you stop me this time."

Maria shook her head. "Indeed, I was asked by your parents to protect you. But as I've said, I am your maid first and foremost. I won't tell you not to go, I'll just go with you instead."

Honoka smiled, then went to hug her maid tightly. "You're the best, Maria."

"Eheh..." Maria's face went slightly red at her master's compliment. "Anyway, we should wait until later, when they're changing the guard. Otherwise we'll get caught."

"Hai."

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><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**Alright so first off, the second genre. We WILL be including romance. No one said no, a lot of you gave me vague answers, and a few were yes. Soo... yeah X3**

**As for Honoka's love interest... Well again you guys gave interesting answers. If you noticed, I was pretty vague with chapter 1. I mean, only 2 names characters? That's because I really wanted YOU guys to decide these things. I easily could've made this opening to fit any of the other characters.**

**Oh and because it maybe wasn't that obvious, the love interest in Kotori. The way I did it was looked through your answers, cause you guys gave me more than one for #2, and just counted every time a char was mentioned. Kotori was mentioned the most at 9 times, so she was chosen. And if you're interested, Umi was second at 6, Maki and Eli tied with 4, and Tsubasa and the male char mentioned 1 time. (lineonthecanvas was the last review counted, if you want to know what was counted.)**

**Okay, onto the story. So for the first couple of chapters, I'll slowly be introducing the other characters. Because of that, check out my dropbox (linked in my FF profile) for pics of characters. Most are pics of artist's OCs on sites like pixiv. I also left the picture ID numbers in the file names if you want to search them up yourself (just google either pixiv or eshuushuu and the pic id number and you'll find it). This is AU, so I'll probably find creature pictures later on for chapters X3**

**Also about Rin. Mesmer is like a hex/saboteur type of mage class, which comes from Guild Wars (but no, the guild idea in this story wasn't from that game). It's a interrupt and debuff class, but in this story I'm also giving it a few more attributes, like the trapping used in this chapter. As far as the pic used for Rin, well I couldn't find her in Knight's armor or similar kind of uniform, so I used her _Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki_ outfit, cause it kinda works. **

**Another thing you can find in my dropbox is a picture reference. When I noticed Kotori was getting a lot of votes, I remembered this pic and decided I'd expand on it. I was actually getting pretty excited about it because of how many ideas I thought of already. This is also why I wrote chapter 1 the way I did. Had another character won, then I would've used the female cloaked character completely differently, Rin wouldn't have been introduced like this, and the whole Wingul story wouldn't have been created. For example, if Umi had won, then she and Kotori would've ran into Honoka in the lower quarter while Honoka was sneaking out of the castle.**

**...I've had this story idea for like 2 months now. I've had a lot of things thought out xp**

**Now that you know the main pairing, I will ask you all again for your preferences on side pairings. We'll only do one other pairing. BUT, I am not taking suggestions for that yet. I will have a poll asking for what you want, but only AFTER the other characters have been introduced. The reason is some chars might be OoC in this story, as I have their roles mostly planned out. So I would rather you all wait to see how they are before you make your suggestions.**

**One last thing! Please, please, PLEASE ask me questions if you're confused about anything about this story. The reason is this is my first attempt at AU, and like I said I've had a lot of ideas already. But in my honest opinion, I'm sometimes very bad at conveying those ideas. It doesn't help that the story ideas I have involve a lot of secrecy, and I have to be vague a lot of the time.**

**You can PM me if you're shy, but I encourage you to ask in reviews, as others might be similarly confused as you are, and I would like to avoid answering one question in five different PMs. **

**Okay, I think that's it. I'm sorry that these notes are extremely long, but I had a lot to say. I hope this was an okay second chapter. It was still a lot of explaining back story. By the 3rd or 4th chapter will start to see more action. I tried to foreshadow, but I'm bad at that too X3. Last 2 scenes were also really short, but basically things are happening next chapter.**

**Okay...I should stop now. Hope to see you back for chapter 3~**


	3. Unlikely Allies

**Roxius: Eheh, I get a lot of inspiration from pictures. And after seeing a set of pictures on Pixiv of an LL crossover, ideas just started flowing. X3 I'm not completely sure how long it will be. It depends how fast I want each chapter to progress the story along. I hope it lasts a long time though.**

**Nelura: Haha, this story is very loosely based off of ToV. That is my absolute fav game of the series *heart*. You'll see some similarities, mostly the world layout, but different plot. As for the pairing, if it were left up to me to decide the pairing, then this story would have never started... lol I'm that indecisive at times. Plus, it gave a chance for you guys to have a say in something. As for the side pairing, well, that'll be voted on later. So you never know what'll pop up.**

**lychee-ran: Uhm... No most of those are wrong actually xp But we'll get to that as the characters are introduced. Also, I feel like I say this alot but I want to let you guys choose. Especially with this story, where I'm very indecisive. I enjoy reader input every once in a while as well.**

**Satsuki Rin: Haha yeah, that's right. If it were another character rather than Kotori, this second chapter and on would look quite different. For one, Kotori is only a dark mage in this version, in most other versions she would've been the typical healer kind of mage. Yeah, there's going to be flaws, I can't help that since it's a lot of adapting borrowed ideas. And haha, well to be fair, Rin isn't very ordinary either, so not even Kotori would've anticipated that.**

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

><p>After waiting for what seemed like forever, the late night hour came where the maid's changed guard shifts. Honoka and Maria waited until they felt it was the right time, then quietly opened the door to Honoka's room and slipped into the hallway.<p>

The two had discussed the plan very briefly. Maria had knowledge of all the late-night guard spots, as well as patrol patterns. Right now guards were to hold position at assigned spots while their reliefs would meet them there and take over. Maria led Honoka through each corridor, pausing by each corner to make sure a stray guard wasn't by. Though the clear sign was the lamps they carried. With no visible light, they would continue forward.

Their goal was the prison cells, located in the southeastern part of the castle and at basement level. Honoka's room was located in the northwestern corner of the castle, and on the second floor. Of course, there were secret passages throughout the castle. They were known to all who needed to know, namely the Kousaka family, the maids, and the Knights. Honoka and Maria cut a fair amount of time through the passages, arriving near the basement entrance within minutes.

As they made their way down the stairs, their pace slowed down by a lot. Basement level was more or less just the dungeon, and logically that meant it was guarded a little heavier than random corridors of the castle. Sounds also echoed a lot more than in the corridors as well.

So, Honoka and Maria tried to take things a lot slower and make as little noise as possible. Though Honoka was eager, and she couldn't handle taking things slowly for that long. Maria sensed her master's feelings and acted accordingly, picking up the pace while still making as little noise as they possibly could.

Maria signaled to stop as they reached the end of the corridor. She was looking around the corner. Curious, Honoka stepped behind her, looking around as well. The next room would be dark except for a corner at the opposite end from where they would enter. That was the guard's post, right next to the prison entrances.

"Looks like they've already changed shifts down here," Maria said under her breath.

"Good. That should make things easier."

"It'll still be a bit tricky..."

Honoka placed a hand on Maria's shoulder. "I know you can do it."

Honoka retreated back around the corner again while Maria stepped out into the larger room. She dropped the sneaking mindset, and simply walked across the room toward the guard's spot. The sudden noise of footsteps had made the guard jump slightly. Though he relaxed once he shined the light over and saw the maid.

"Ah, the Princess's maid," the guard said.

Maria smiled. "Good evening."

"Not that I particularly mind... But what are you doing down here?"

"Well, that Minami girl is being held here, isn't she?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well as you can imagine, the princess is concerned about her presence." Maria paused, then quickly added, "Not that she doesn't trust you Knights."

The Knight shook his head. "I understand. Everyone knows of the Minamis' powers. This girl's power probably rivals the Princess's herself."

_No one rival's Honoka-sama in raw power_, Maria thought. _But control is another matter entirely._

"Well, you can understand then why I was told to come by and check on things," Maria said.

"Right. Well, I can show you to the cell if you would like."

"If you'd be so kind."

The Knight turned and motioned Maria to follow him down further. Maria began walking, but pulled out a card behind her back, tilting it twice before making her way down the stairs. It was the signal for Honoka to move. She did so, crossing the empty room as quietly as possible to follow them down the stairs.

Maria and the knight reached the bottom of staircase and continued walking. But when Honoka hit the bottom, she ducked into a dark corner to hide. The knight continued leading Maria all the way to the last cell. You could tell at a distance that this was a different cell from the others, as it had a magic seal across the entrance.

"Here we are," the knight said. "Minami's cell."

"With a magic seal by the King himself," Maria added.

The knight nodded. "As secure as this cell can ever be."

Maria turned to the knight. "I'm going to check some last things here. You can go back to your post."

The knight simply nodded and turned back around. It seemed to take him forever to make his way back up the stairs, but once he finally left Honoka was able to leave her corner and rejoin Maria by the prison cell.

* * *

><p>He carefully made his way through the dark passageway.<p>

"An actual passage as well," the man said to himself. "I was honestly expecting this to be sewers."

For a moment he considered how weird it is that he's talking to himself. Although that thought didn't last long, it did bring something else to his mind.

"What could have happened to Kotori? She should have just stayed with me instead of wandering off."

He shook his head.

"Guess that doesn't matter now. I have to see this through."

He continued through the underground passage.

* * *

><p>She heard the door to her room open. She looked up from the book in her hand and looked toward her maid.<p>

"Well, Ally?" she asked.

"It's like you thought, my Queen," Ally responded. "Your daughter isn't in her room, and Maria is gone as well."

The mother sighed. "I was hoping I wasn't right in this case. They've probably made their way to the dungeon."

"Should we alert the King?"

"We don't need to tell my husband yet. Let's see if we can't catch my daughter ourselves first."

"As you wish."

She closed the book in her hand and placed it onto the table, standing up. As she didn't see any reason to hurry, she and her maid took their time leaving the room and entering the hallway.

* * *

><p>The knight and a maid didn't really catch her attention. But this new arrival got her to sit up on her prison bed.<p>

"You're... Kousaka Honoka..." Kotori said, somewhat in disbelief.

"That's right," Honoka said, somewhat smiling.

Kotori narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Me? I just want to talk."

"... Huh?"

"That's right. Actually, there's a request I have for you."

"A request? You know who I am... right?"

"You're Minami Kotori."

Honoka answered almost immediately, surprising Kotori.

"Yes, I know our families' history with each other. But my request still stands. I need your help."

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

"Let me ask you first. You've traveled around a lot, right?"

"Somewhat... Why?"

"Okay, because here's my request. Take me around the country."

"... What?"

"Take me to travel around the country. I've been so bored being stuck in this castle every day. So, take me traveling with you. I want to be able to see the country, and what the world has to offer."

Kotori took a moment to fully process what Honoka had just said.

"You want me... to take you traveling around the country?" she asked.

"Well, around the world. But the country would be fine too."

"You know there are all kinds of monsters out there."

"Yes, I've read about them. But of course, I've never been allowed outside the castle, so I've never had the chance to see them myself."

"And you'll be traveling with me. You know what kind of risk that puts on you?"

To this, Honoka smiled again. "I don't think that will be much of a problem, and you know it as well."

"What do you mean?"

"If you were truly a threat to me, you wouldn't be warning me right now. You would be trying to deceive me, right?"

Kotori realized Honoka was right. "I-it doesn't matter. Our families are-"

"Enemies? So what? I'm only asking you to take me traveling. I'm not asking you to marry me or something."

Kotori lost track of how many times she found herself lost for words in this conversation. She quietly considered Honoka's words again, finding she had no reason not to help. Honoka had been right about her as well. Apart from the mercenary contract, she had no will or reason to harm Honoka. She sighed.

"Somehow I have a bad feeling about this," she said finally. "But fine, I'll accept your request. But just around the country, alright?"

The delight was evident in Honoka's face. "Wonderful."

"... You're unusual for a princess, you know that?"

"I've been told. Now, be ready. Once I take down my father's seal, he'll be alerted, and we'll have to move quickly."

Kotori nodded her understanding. Honoka placed a hand on the magical barrier, closing her eyes and focusing. Kotori saw from her side that the Kousaka crest drew itself on the palm of Honoka's hand, and a moment later the entire barrier dissolved. Then Maria stepped forward, pulling a key out of her pocket and unlocking the cell lock. Kotori pushed the cell door open, and the three made their way to the exit of the dungeon. Kotori looked around as they went.

_I really was the only prisoner here, huh?_ she thought to herself.

They didn't slow down to move quieter as they ascended the staircase. As they ran, Maria conjured another card, bringing it in front of her. Before they passed through the entry back into the guard's room, she threw the card forward. Instinctively, the three of them covered their eyes. The knight at the top, caught unaware and unsuspecting, looked straight at the card.

That mistake was all they needed. The card emitted a bright flash of light. The sudden burst forced the knight's eyes shut, and the secondary effect kicked in. Two waves of air shot from the card in all directions. The first wave made the guard's balance unsteady, with the follow-up wave knocking him over. By now the three reached the top of the stairs, and proceeded quickly through the room. Kotori turned back to see the knight, still doubled over and covering his eyes as they left the room.

* * *

><p>"The seal to the Minami girl's cell just went down."<p>

"You can tell?"

"My magic is linked to my husband's. So I'm able to feel things that he can."

The queen smiled to herself as she continued walking with Ally through the corridors. The magic link between her and the King wasn't there originally. It took her a lot of convincing to get him to agree to that kind of shared power. Now it was paying off.

"So, if you don't mind me asking..." came Ally's voice. "Why are we still proceeding casually?"

"Because we're not going after my daughter."

"... What?"

The queen held up her hand, signaling for Ally to stop. "There's an uninvited guest that needs attending to first."

Before Ally got a chance to ask another question, a dark figure had emerged at the end of the hallway. But it wasn't a figure she recognized. As the figure stepped forward into the light, Ally found that it wasn't a _she_, but a _he_.

"Richter." The queen announced. "Son of Wingul and Asriel Minami."

"I guess I should feel honored that the Queen of Izolle," Richter challenged. "However I don't have time to be wasting on you right now."

"Of course you have time. You're targeting my daughter after all. There's no way we could let that slide, can we?"

"... I don't know how you came to know my objective, but I'm starting to get really annoyed with you. I hope you aren't a disappointment, old lady."

The queen unsheathed her rapier. "Don't worry, I'll give you a little hope before I humiliate you."

The grin on her master's face told Ally what she was in for. She shrugged and moved off to the side. She leaned against a particular part of the wall, tapping it behind her with two fingers. A control panel revealed itself in response. She quickly tapped the keys for a command. The system responded just as the first spell was casted.

* * *

><p>They moved quickly, and somewhat quietly, through the corridors. They reached the entrance to one of the secret passageways. As they made their way through, Kotori couldn't help but asking something that's been on her mind.<p>

"Have you always been able to use spell cards?" she asked Maria.

"Well personal maids aren't appointed just because we're the most obedient," Maria answered. "We're tasked with protecting our masters, with our own power."

"Of course, the way each maid serves is different," Honoka pointed out. "Maria-chan is the only one who uses cards and a revolver as magic mediums."

"A revolver?" Kotori asked.

Mari lifted the right side of her uniform's skirt, revealing a revolver and it's holster strapped on her right thigh. It was positioned for easy access, while still comfortably hiding under the uniform.

"I'm a good shot with it as well," Maria said. "So, I would think twice if you suddenly have the urge to double-cross us."

"Noted..." Then something else was bothering Kotori. "So anyway, where are we going? Isn't the castle entrance in the opposite direction."

"It is. We're going to stop by my room," Honoka answered.

"You're room?"

"Yup. You don't expect me travel around the country looking like a princess, do you?"

"... You have a point there."

"Quiet," Maria said. "We're about to enter the corridors again."

Maria looked around to make sure no one was around. Once she decided it was clear, they exited the passageway into the corridor. It was around the corner from Honoka's room. Maria placed her hand on the doorknob and was about to open it when Honoka caught her hand.

"What?" Maria asked.

"Wait."

Kotori watched, expecting something. There was a small flash of light, and then Honoka let go of Maria's arm.

"Ally placed a spell in the doorway," Honoka explained. "It would've tripped if we opened the door."

"Aren't you supposed to be keen to these kind of stuff?" Kotori asked.

"S-shut up," Maria breathed before pushing the door open.

If Kotori didn't know Honoka was a princess, seeing her room now would've convinced Kotori of that. Having grown up in a fairly normal way, the room was everything Kotori would've guessed a princess's room would be, from the design to the furniture to the size.

"Don't worry, I won't be long," Honoka announced. She walked to her closet, pulled something out, then got onto her bed and closed the bed curtains.

Maria and Kotori waited quietly. Kotori wouldn't look, but she had a feeling Maria was keeping an eye on her. Though when she finally got the nerve to look over at the maid, Maria had her head down, eyes closed.

"You're not asleep, are you?" Kotori asked.

"You think I'd easily let my guard down like that while around you?" Maria responded.

"Just checking..."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm cautious of anyone whose potentially a threat to my master. It's not just you specifically."

"Thanks for that, I guess," Kotori said, not sure how to react.

Maria opened her eyes again, looking to Honoka's bed.

"She sees something in you, thinks you wouldn't do anything to her. I don't know where she gets this blind faith, though."

"Maybe she just wants to believe that so she can get out of this castle."

"That could be true as well. Aside from her training, she doesn't look like the happy child she was growing up in here. She looks longingly out of her window almost daily."

"That's... quite sad, actually..."

Maria glanced at Kotori out of the corner of her eye. Coming to a decision, she got up from the wall she was leaning on, and turned to the door.

"Hmm? Where are you going?" Kotori asked.

"I'm going to keep watch outside. Make sure it's clear when we leave."

"Shouldn't I-"

"Just stay put until Honoka-sama is done."

Without any more room for arguing, Maria stepped outside the room. Kotori looked after her for a moment before turning back around to face the bed. She didn't have to wait much longer, as Honoka pulled the curtains again after a few minutes.

"Well, what do you think?" Honoka asked, twirling once.

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that still give away that you're a princess?"

"Eh? But this was given to me by one of the upper quarter nobles."

"Seriously?"

Honoka nodded.

"... Rich people..."

"Eh? What was that?"

"Nothing. Anyway, Maria's waiting outside. Let's go?"

"Yup!"

Kotori slowly opened the door. Maria had been scanning up and down the hallway. Once she heard the door open, she gave them a signal that it was clear. They were on the move again, moving down the hallway in the opposite direction from where they came. They went down two halls before jumping into another passageway.

The rest of the time they spent sneaking around the castle, there was no conversation. Maria led Kotori and Honoka with hand signals, and they hurried along until they reached a particular room.

"This room is..." Kotori started.

"Linked to the outside with a secret passage," Maria finished.

It was a fairly large room, and almost empty except for an ice statue in the center. Maria walked up to its base. She placed two cards she conjured on it, each covered by her hands. With the help of the cards, Maria pushed the statue, revealing the passageway underneath.

"Once I release the cards, the statue will snap back into place," Maria told them. "So you two go first."

Kotori and Honoka did so without question. They slipped into the entryway. Once they were both safely through, Maria jumped in, grabbing her cards as she did so. Had she not been prepared, she would've been caught by the motion of the statue. But she rejoined the other two without a scratch.

* * *

><p>"Well, I hope that wasn't disappointing to you," The queen said sweetly.<p>

Ally overlooked the result of the battle between Richter and the Queen. Although _battle_ was a generous term, as the conflict only lasted a few minutes.

"If you were really a dark prince, then you probably would've stood more of a chance."

"Enjoying your little victory?" a new voice asked.

"Of course. I haven't had to exert myself in years," The queen answered, turning to face her husband.

"You certainly didn't go easy on the kid."

"Yes I did. If I went all-out, he wouldn't be breathing anymore."

The king raised an amused eyebrow. His wife just smiled and went up to hug him.

"Come on, I just wanted to have some fun," she said.

"Well, he seems to be okay still. We'll have the knights send him back to Telos Astue."

"Good. I would've been upset if we had to keep him prisoner around here."

"Speaking of which, you realize our daughter left the castle."

"I know, I felt her presence leave."

"Shouldn't we go and-"

The queen placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "No we shouldn't. This will be good for her. She needs to get out by her own will, and experience things."

"But we could've taken her out of the city."

"If we did that then she wouldn't want to go."

"But-"

"Shh. Remember, we used to explore a lot before your father passed away and you had to take the throne. And your father didn't think it was right for us to be going alone. But we learned so much from those adventures. We gained experience, and our people respected us. No one thought they could attack us the same way they thought your parents were vulnerable. It'll be the same if Honoka gets a chance to travel."

The king sighed. "Well, I can't argue with that."

"Exactly." She reached up so they could kiss. "In the meantime, we have another daughter who has _a lot_ to learn about her duties as a princess."

"You're right. We should get ready for tomorrow. Come along, you two."

Ally peered over in the direction the king had come from. Sure enough, his maid Clare emerged from the shadows. The two waited for the King and Queen to start walking, but the king first faced Ally.

"Oh, and thanks for the video alert. Too bad I didn't reach here in time."

"No problem, sir," Ally said.

The four of them returned to the King and Queen's quarters. Some knights came by to pick up Richter.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**Horray! I finally got around to updating this story X3 I've really wanted to get back to you guys, but personal life again. Nothing too bad. Just mostly busy and some hard time sleeping.**

**Anyway! We're back, and that makes me happy. Super sorry that it took long, but happy nonetheless.**

**For anyone interested in why I made Maria specialized the way she is, check out my Dropbox. In this story's ch.3 folder you'll find the two picture references, as well as Honoka's outfit midway through this chapter. If it wasn't obviously already, I get ALOT of inspiration from pictures X3.**

**I think for the most part we won't be flipping between points of view anymore, and mainly focus on the main party's side. That also means we'll get to start meeting the other characters! Oh and Rin will obviously come back soon as well X3**

**Not really much else to say. Probably forgetting a lot of things. Anyway! Hopefully people are still interested in this story. I want to focus a lot more on this. As always, and comments and questions can be in reviews or PM.**

**Hope to see you again soon~**


	4. Before They Leave

**lychee-ran: Very nice X3 Actually when I was deciding how I wanted the spell cards to behave, I thought of Touhou too. Though, a bit more than just colorful bullet patterns X3 And Rin will seen again soon, so your question shall be answered.**

**the intertwined feelings: A couple are right. I don't want to answer too much though because I don't want to give a lot away. **

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

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><p>"How much further?"<p>

"Who knows? This passage could go on for a while."

"You're... you're joking right?"

"What's wrong? Tired already?"

"No... But I'm not too fond of being in this sewer passage either."

"It could be worse. You could fall into the water."

"Don't say that!"

Maria continued silently listening to the other two's conversation as she led the trio through the passageway. It had been quiet for the first few minutes they'd been walking when they dropped into the passageway. But after a short while Honoka could no longer stand the silence, and just started talking. It had only recently developed into a conversation with Kotori.

Although she could have interrupted or even joined in the conversation at any point, Maria found some pleasure in just listening. It had been quite a while since the last time she could remember her Master having a conversation of any kind with someone _not_ associated with the castle, so it was a nice change. There was also this strange feeling that Maria had that she couldn't shake. It was a feeling that told her that she should avoid interrupting the other two as much as possible.

"Despite some of the stranger things about you already, it's clear that you still are a princess," Kotori said.

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"What? Do you think it's normal for a princess to release a prisoner for the sake of traveling?"

"I know _that_. I want to know what you meant that it's clear that I am a princess still?"

"Oh, that. Well just by the questions you ask or how you sometimes act, it's obvious you've almost never been outside of the castle."

Kotori glanced over and saw a change in Honoka's demeanor.

"No... I haven't. My parents thought it would be good for me to see the city on occasion. But it was very rare. The only times I've even seen someone other than my family or the maids are for celebrations that we hosted. Otherwise, I'm not allowed outside."

"Really? That's too bad. You're missing a lot out there in the world."

"I know. I've read about so much in books but I've never seen it for myself."

"There you go with the books again. But those don't compare at all to the actual experience."

"Uhm, Minami-san. Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"What?" Honoka took a moment to understand what Kotori meant. "H-hey! That's not it!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Kotori gestured for Honoka to continue.

"I was just wondering, what's your favorite part of traveling?"

Kotori was somewhat surprised by Honoka's question. She took some time to think of her answer.

"I guess... my favorite part of traveling is the feeling of freedom I get when I see open fields or open ocean in front of me. It feels like I can go anywhere or do anything I want to."

"Hmm... You make it sound so wonderful..."

Kotori felt something strange in Honoka's tone. She glanced over to see a soft smile on the princess's face. As she turned to look forward again, she noticed that Maria had also been looking.

"She's probably trying to imagine the experience for herself," the maid suggested.

"Huh? Did you say something Maria-chan?" Honoka asked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"It was nothing, Honoka-sama," Maria said, flashing a smile before turning back around.

"Nothing at all," Kotori agreed when Honoka turned to face her.

Honoka made a pouting face, much to Kotori's amusement. But before she could poke fun at the princess, Maria spoke first.

"We're at the end of the passage."

* * *

><p>She walked through the quiet streets of Zenethra. In either arm she carried paper bags full of food. Though she was still making very little noise while she walked. There wasn't a need to be quiet or cautious, as she was in a very peaceful part of the city. Quiet movement was simply a habit for her at this point.<p>

_I suppose I could make some noise to let them know I'm coming_, the girl thought. _But surprising them is always more rewarding_.

With that decided, she continued quietly through the streets. She wouldn't have to walk for much longer, as she was a corner away from where she wanted to be.

"Ah, there you are," a voice greeted her as she emerged from the street.

She jumped slightly at the sudden voice. "Ojiichan, you surprised me."

The older man laughed. "Don't forget who taught you everything you know about sneaking around, Rin-chan."

"Hehe, I haven't forgotten."

"Did you manage to find everything?" he asked, indicating the bags.

"Ah, Yes. Everything that everyone asked for."

The man smiled. "Thanks for everything you do, Rin."

Rin shook her head. "I should be thanking you and everyone else in this district."

"Your parents were kind-hearted and did all they could to help everyone, just like you're doing now. It only makes sense for us to have taken care of you. Your parents' fate was unfortuante, but they would be proud and happy to see the young woman you've become."

Rin smiled. "Thank you for saying that, Ojiichan. Here, I'll bring those inside for you."

Before she could move, the older man stopped her, taking the bags.

"You've already done a lot for the day. Go ahead and get some rest before you go."

"But-"

"I may be old, but this much I can handle myself."

"I wasn't going to say that."

"Ah, but you were thinking it, weren't you?"

"Well..."

"Hehe, go rest for a bit."

Without waiting for her response, he turned and made his way into his house. Rin just watched him until he was inside. Then she went to the fountain in the center of the plaza. It was switched off during the late night hours, so there was currently no water running. Which was to her liking, as she was able to sit on the center structure of the fountain.

She took a moment to make herself comfortable. Once she found the right spot, she gazed up at the night sky. It was clear tonight, so she was able to easily see all of the stars. No matter what, she seemed to always lose herself while looking up at this starry sky.

Her moment didn't last long. She heard footsteps coming from one of the streets leading to the plaza. Quickly, she jumped off of the fountain, hitting the ground and quickly running for cover in a gap between two houses. She carefully peered out as the unknown people were about to appear in the plaza.

She couldn't believe who she was seeing. The first person to appear was Minami Kotori, the girl she caught earlier in the day. The girl who should be in the castle prison right now.

_What is she doing out?_ Rin thought to herself. Then she shook her head. _Well, it doesn't matter now. I have to do something._

Her right hand reached to her side as she wanted to grab one of her weapons, but then she froze again as she saw who was walking with Kotori.

_T-the princess?_ _What in the world is going on here?_

It was still pretty silent aside from their footsteps, so Rin could tell there wasn't any conversation happening.

_Don't tell me... Did Minami somehow take control of the princess?_

The situation just got more complicated for Rin now. At first sight, she aws ready to take on Kotori without hesitation. But now the princess was added into the mix. Making a hasty decision of any kind could put the princess in danger, especially because she still doesn't' know the full situation.

_But if I wait any longer they'll be leaving at the other end of the plaza_. Rin finally came to a decision. _I have to at least stall Minami right now._

She reached behind her, not for a weapon this time. Instead she searched through a pouch on her belt. She quickly found what she wanted and pulled them out of the pouch. They were three small capsules. Though hard to tell in the dark, they were two white capsules and a single grey one.

_Might be overdoing it a bit, but better safe than sorry while the princess is involved._

She got herself into a stance, planting her feet and raising her right hand slightly. She carefully watched the three in the distance, getting as good a guess at their speed as she could. Then she felt ready. She stepped out of the gap she had been hiding in, throwing the capsules.

They flew through the air, bouncing off the fountain just as Kotori, Honoka, and Maria walked nearby. They caught the noise of the capsules hitting the fountain, as the three had turned in that direction. It was hard for them to see the capsules in the low light, which left them no time to react. The two white capsules exploded mid-air, emitting a bright flash of light that momentarily blinding the three.

The grey capsule bounced a few time on the ground by their feet before exploding. Rather than flashing light, it released smoke. The little that they were able to see with only the starry sky was now obscured as the smoke wrapped around them.

Rin wasted no time. As soon as the capsules exploded, she had dashed forward. She drew her daggers from the sheaths on either side of her waist. She knew where her target was standing. She knew where the princess and her maid were. There would be no risk now for her to strike. So she dashed to the smoke, slashing the dagger on her right.

The last thing she expected to hear was the clash of metal against metal.

The wind from her dash and strike had blown the smoke from her capsule clear, revealing Kotori in a defensive stance. She had her sword already drawn, which was what caught Rin's dagger. Rin quickly recovered from her moment of surprised, jumping back to put some distance between them two.

"Nice little trick you thought of there," Kotori said.

"Not nice enough apparently," Rin responded. "It doesn't matter now. We'll settle this the old fashion way."

Rin raised her daggers in another aggressive stance. Kotori quickly understood what Rin wanted. She brought her sword up again in a one-handed grip, tip pointed toward Rin.

"Fine by me," Kotori said. "Let's see what you're really made of."

They glared at each other, getting ready to jump at any moment. But just as both were going to strike, Honoka jumped in between them, spreading her arms out.

"Wait, stop!" She pleaded, though trying to keep herself from yelling.

"K-Kousaka-sama?" Rin asked, confused.

"Hmm?" Kotori was surprised by Honoka's sudden action.

Honoka turned to Rin. "Please, you can't fight. You must leave her be."

"Kousaka-sama, you know who she is, right?" Rin asked. "She-"

"I know who she is," Honoka responded. "I asked her to help me with a favor."

"Y-you did? So you aren't being controlled or anything?"

Honoka shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

Kotori had a little smirk on her face. But before she could get a word in with Rin, Honoka had turned to her.

"And you," Honoka said to Kotori. "You can't go around causing trouble like this. Okay?"

"But... I didn't-"

"Even if you didn't start it, you were ready to continue it."

Kotori clicked her tongue, knowing Honoka was right. "Fine, I'll try not to cause trouble. At least while I'm escorting you."

Rin watched from the side. She didn't want to believe that all this was true, but now that she heard the exchange between the two, she realized that it wasn't a lie. Then some other concerns started appearing in Rin's mind.

"Kousaka-sama?"

Honoka turned away from lecturing Kotori to look at Rin. "Yes?"

"You said you asked _her_ for a favor?"

Rin and Kotori glared at each other briefly.

"Yes, I did. We're going to be leaving the capital."

"E-eh?!" Rin quickly covered her mouth, as if that would silence her sudden yelling. She looked around to see if anyone had woken up. Once she confirmed no one had, she continued. "You're doing what?"

"We're leaving the capital," Honoka repeated. "Kotori is going to take me around the world. Like an adventure." She added the last part cheerfully.

_Kotori? She dropped the formalities pretty quickly, _Kotori thought. She looked at Rin. "Well, there you have it."

"... No," Rin said.

"No?" Honoka repeated, surprised.

"I-I'm sorry, Kousaka-sama. But this is just unacceptable! There's no way I can be okay with you traveling

unadvised and with little escort."

"Well then, why don't you come with us?" Maria suggested.

"W-what?"

"That's a great idea, Maria-chan," Honoka said. Then she turned to Rin. "If you're worried, then you should come with us."

Rin considered it for a few minutes. "Well... I guess it would make sense. I can keep an eye on Minami as well... Alright, I guess I'll go with you all."

Honoka and Maria exchanged smiles. Though Kotori wasn't as excited as they were.

"Just don't expect me to save you if you get yourself into trouble," she said.

"Heh, I could say the same to you," Rin replied.

"Well, shall we go?" Maria suggested. "Before you two try to kill each other?"

"Fine," both replied, facing away from each other.

Honoka gave a helpless smile to Maria as they four turned and started walking, making their way to the gateway out of the city.

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><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**Hmm... I honestly don't like the ending to this chapter, but anything else I wanted to add is for next chapter. Oh well.**

**Anyway, I hope you all have been enjoying the story so far. As always, review with comments or questions. As you might have noticed, I try to respond at the top of each chapter. **

**So, this will probably feel like how RPG stories go. You know, party members slowly being introduced and somehow dragged into the party one by one. Yeah, that's pretty much how things will happen. X3 And now with Rin's reintroduction and joining our crew, we'll start to meet the rest of the Muse chars.**

**Going to be busy on and off for the next few weeks, so updates are going to very in time. Plus I have my other story as well as neglected oneshot requests. Though I won't lie, I really want to focus on this story over other things X3. I'll get around to everything at some point, I hope. Just wanted to keep you guys updated. **

**Uhm... Alright I think that's all from me for this chapter. Again I hope you guys have found this interesting so far and hope to see you next time.~**


	5. First Aid

**lychee-ran: I'm still debating between how many extra couples to include. My original plan was just to have one side pairing, but I'm still not sure. Also, I actually hadn't thought about Maria being with anyone. Originally she wasn't even supposed to be in the party, but ideas change X3 We'll see how things progress.**

**Satsuki Rin: Don't worry, I totally understand personal life getting in the way. *pats* As for the parents, I actually had something dramatic for them originally, but ended up liking the way they are here better. Honoka being fun-loving and adventurous is pretty much the reason this story was born. And yes, I like the marriage line a lot too, but that's because we know the outcome X3 As far as the Knights, the idea behind them definitely seems strange at first. After another of the Muse is introduced I hope that their role in the story is more clear.**

**Major Mike Powell III: Like Satsuki Rin, don't worry! I understand when other things get in the way. The Templars from AC huh. That's actually an interesting comparison. More ideas... thanks X3. Haha, apparently a lot of people liked Honoka's line in chapter 3. Yay for obvious foreshadowing. Spin the revolver? Well it needs to be a truly badass scene or it just won't do, right? ;] **

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

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><p>"You're not getting away from me."<p>

The boar turned to face the girl yelling at it. Already enraged from having its hunting party interrupted, it charged forward. The girl stood her ground. Holding her sword firmly, she brought it to her side. Its black blade began to be surrounded by a red aura, still visible in the morning sunlight.

"[Dividing Edge]"

In the blink of an eye, the girl was gone. The boar felt a rush of wind flowing against it, followed by a sharp pain in its side. The boar stopped its charge almost immediately. Had the boar turned around, it would have found the girl standing where it had been before it began charging. Instead, the boar fell over, now lifeless.

"This isn't very fun at all..." the girl said, walking up to the corpse. "Well, at least its good meat."

As she knelt down, there was a pair of whines coming from behind her. She turned while still kneeling on the ground, registering the sight of two boars, now charging angrily at her. Again she held her ground, but did not draw her sword this time.

Almost as suddenly as the boars had appeared, they had stopped in their tracks. They look around, as if searching for something. Then they fell over. There were three knives that stuck out of each boar. After a moment, Rin appeared from behind the two corpse, into Kotori's view.

"Pretty careless of you to let your guard down so easily," Rin said.

"If you were any kind of Knight then they shouldn't have been able to charge at me in the first place," Kotori retorted.

"As expected coming from you."

They glared at each other, but were quickly interrupted. A small swarm of bees (nearly as big as they were in size) were darting toward them. Their speed would mean that neither of them would have a chance to dodge or defend themselves.

Just as quickly as they had appeared, the two lead bees popped like balloons, causing the rest of the swarm to break off and fly harmlessly passed Rin and Kotori. They had regrouped quickly, and were turning around for another attempt at attacking the duo

"Illusion Bullet, [Bluff Barrage]"

This time they heard a gunshot go off, and saw as the projectile sped passed them toward the bees. There were two flashes that followed, and the single bullet was replaced by hundreds. Though they tried, the size of the bees meant that there was no way for them to dodge every bullet. Each bullet that scored a successful hit would cause a small explosion. After a blinding amount of lighting, the swarm of bees fell to the ground.

"Can you two save your little insult game for after we're done?" Maria asked, putting the spell card she had just used away.

"Hey, where is Honoka-sama?" Rin asked, ignoring Maria's comment.

Maria simply pointed over her shoulder. Rin and Kotori looked behind her just in time to see Honoka sidestep a bear trying to pound her into the ground. She twirled in the motion of the sidestep, swiping her rapier horizontally. A faint aura could be seen around the blade, which was also using magic. With the spell empowered blade, she easily cut through the bear.

"And here I thought she was a pampered, defenseless little princess," Kotori commented.

"If she had any other parents, she would have been," Maria admitted.

"Hey come on!" Honoka called out to them. "We're not done yet!"

Maria had reacted right away to Honoka's voice, moving to join her master. Rin finished retrieving her daggers and ran to join them. Kotori looked back at the corpse.

"What a waste," she said to herself before running after the others.

Together the four continued forward. The monsters were unusually aggressive, which meant they had to keep fighting their way through as they made their way to the forest. The sun was quickly blocked as they reached the outer line of trees.

Without taking a break, they continued walking into the forest. Compared to how chaotic it was on the open field just moments ago, there were no monsters in sight actively roaming the forest, giving off a very calm feeling. They slowed their pace to a walk.

Kotori looked around, taking the time to admire the forest and the way it looked with cracks of sunlight leaking through. She had been through here one other time, but it was during the night, and there were monsters hunting at the time. She wanted to enjoy this calmer experience while she could.

That calm experience wouldn't last long. As they were walking, they heard the sound of something landing on a pile of fallen leaves. They spun around to see Honoka on her knees. Maria immediately dropped to her side, arms around to support Honoka.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Honoka breathed. "Just a little tired."

"Well we have been on the move since late last night," Kotori pointed out.

"We should rest," Rin suggested "You're not used to traveling after all."

Kotori shook her head. "No, we should continue for a little longer."

Rin shot a look at Kotori. "Can't you see that Honoka-sama needs rest?"

"I know. There's a healing spring a little further into the forest. It would be better for her to rest there."

"A healing spring, huh?" Maria repeated. "Do you think you can continue a little further, Honoka-sama?"

"I think so," Honoka answered. Then she looked up to Kotori, "Lead the way."

Rin and Kotori waited while Maria helped Honoka slowly stand up again. Once they were ready, the group set off again. They were walking slower than before as Maria was helping Honoka along. Although nothing had attacked them so far, they were still weary of the possibility. Thankfully for them, they reached the spring Kotori mentioned without issue.

Right away Maria led Honoka to the spring at sat her down. She helped Honoka remove her shoes. Honoka knew to pull up her dress, and let her legs soak in the water. A very relieved sigh escaped her lips.

"Ah... Much better..."

"There's even a healing spring in a forest like this, huh?" Maria was truly surprised. Water with healing properties wasn't common to find in a place that humans didn't visit often. And this forest's reputation for being cursed would mean most people avoided it, even though there wasn't actually a curse.

Rin and Kotori were standing apart from Honoka and Maria. They were asked to keep watch, just to be safe. Rin had complied right away while Kotori had resisted at first. She would have liked to sit in the spring as well. Though she found something to make use of the time anyway.

"Hoshizora Rin, was it?" Kotori asked.

Rin nodded. "Something wrong?"

"No, just checking. So Hoshizora, what's your relationship with the princess?"

"Hmm? Why the sudden interest?"

"Well, even if it's still formally, you address her by her first name and not by family name."

"Ah, that." Rin looked over to Honoka and Maria at the spring. "It all happened by chance, really."

"By chance?" Kotori repeated.

Rin lookd at Kotori again and nodded. "Yes. You know how knights are usually chosen from families of nobility, right?"

Kotori nodded. "It's incredibly rare for them to recruit outside of noble families."

"I'm one of those rare cases."

"Really?"

"Yes. My parents died while I was young. I was an orphan until a family from the Lower Quarter adopted me."

"I see... I'm sorry to hear about your parents."

"Surprising words coming from you, but thanks. Anyway, there was a day that the Royal Family was going around the city. It was one of the times that they felt there was no risk to do so. The King and Queen were addressing the crowds, their second daughter still young and sticking by the Queen's side. Meanwhile there was an area for the children to meet and play with the first daughter."

"And you met her there?"

"In a way, yes. But it didn't happen normally. Understandably, some of the other kids were jealous of Honoka-sama's status. She was nice to everyone, but that didn't change their minds. They were bullying her. I thought some of the things they were calling her were very cruel, so I attacked them. Of course, it doesn't look good for a child from the Lower Quarter to attack children from noble families."

"So they assumed you were the problem?"

Rin nodded. "But Honoka-sama spoke up before they took me. Whether or not they wanted to believe that I didn't do anything, they couldn't argue with her. Of course, they dismissed the idea of the noble children starting anything. But they left me alone after that. Honoka-sama wanted to be friends with me after that as well.

"I don't imagine that went well," Kotori said.

"Not completely. But because of what Honoka-sama kept saying for me, I got a rare offer to be part of the Knights. Of course because I was still young at the time, I wouldn't be able to go for a few years. In the meantime, the Royal Family arranged that I come to the castle to play with Honoka-sama."

"Really? But it doesn't seem like you two are close for childhood friends."

"Well... that arrangement only lasted for a few months. It was around the time for Honoka to start learning her duties as a princess, so she got busier. Eventually my trips to the castle ended and I was back to staying in the Lower Quarter until I was old enough to train with the Knights."

"Ah... I see..."

Rin smiled. "It wasn't bad though. Honoka-sama even came when I passed the graduation test. She at least remembered me, even if we didn't get to be close friends."

"She doesn't seem like the kind of person to forget a friend, princess or not," Kotori said.

"Yeah..."

_"What is that?!"_ Maria cried out.

Rin and Kotori turned around as soon as they heard the maid. The sight they were greeted with was far from pleasant. Hovering across the spring from where Honoka and Maria sat was a gigantic monster. The body by itself was about four times their size, with colorful wings almost the same size. There was a blade on either of its front legs, and a tail with stinger like a scorpion.

The monster swung its tail at Honoka and Maria. Neither could react fast enough to evade. Instead, Honoka pulled Maria close and quickly chanted a shield spell. The shield absorbed most of the impact from the monster, but they were still knocked over.

"Honoka-sama!"

Rin dashed forward almost immediately. She threw a pair of knives at the monster. She knew it wouldn't harm it much, she just wanted to distract the monster. They did exactly that, as the monster turned in her direction as she stood at the edge of the spring. Enraged, it swung its tail down at Rin.

Rin didn't evade, and Kotori watched as the tail crushed Rin. Or, it should have crushed her, if it was really her.

"An illusion?"

Even the monster had paused in surprise. Then it let out a painful noise, and Rin could be seen on its back. She stabbed a few more daggers into the monster's back before jumping off. As she landed, a series of explosions were set off from the monster's back. The amount of explosions left a cloud of smoke surrounding the monsters.

"Not bad," Kotori said as she joined the other three where Honoka and Maria were knocked to. "Not normal combat from a knight though."

"Maybe next time I can tell you exactly how I graduated," Rin said, smiling at Kotori. Then she looked at Honoka. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Honoka responded. "The shield absorbed most of the hit, so-"

Before she could finish, a cry was heard from the cloud of smoke. With its powerful wings, the monster blew away the cloud of smoke.

"But... there's no way it survived that," Rin said in disbelief.

"Perhaps this is the true curse of the forest," Maria suggested.

"It doesn't matter. Right now we need to escape," Kotori stated.

"She's right," Rin agreed. "We're not fully recovered, we can't fight this."

Rin and Kotori helped Honoka and Maria to their feet. Rin pulled a couple of smoke bombs from her pouch, throwing them at the monster. The monster used one of its wings to shield itself, but the smoke was all they needed. As best as they could, they ran to the right of the spring.

They didn't know if they were running in the right direction. All that mattered to them right now was escaping from the monster. Though it didn't sound like they were being pursued by it, they did not look back anyway. By some luck or miracle, they were out of the forest exactly where they needed to be. They ended up on the opposite side of the forest from where they entered.

"Somehow, we made it," Maria said.

"But what was that monster?" Rin asked. "It was completely different from every other monster in this area."

Kotori shook her head. "I don't know. I didn't encounter it when I passed through with Onii-sama last time."

"Well, let's get going," Rin suggested. "We should distance ourselves from this forest more."

The others agreed, and they started walking again. It had been quiet for a while, but Honoka had to speak up.

"My legs feel funny," she said.

"Do you mean they hurt?" Kotori asked, not looking back.

"Well, I guess you can say that it hurts, too."

Kotori finally turned around. "What do you-"

Her voice trailed off, causing Rin and Mario to stop.

"What is that on your legs?" Kotori asked.

"Huh?"

Honoka tilted her head, puzzled. Then she looked down at her legs. Rin and Maria also looked. They finally noticed some strange, water-like things wrapped around Honoka's legs. They were constantly moving, and were a strange mix of blue and green.

"Wh- wh- what is this stuff?" Honoka stammered.

"I'm sorry, I do not know," Maria answered first. "I've never seen anything like this in anything I've read."

"Neither have I," Rin added. "And we have to know a lot of strange things for travel."

Honoka looked almost pleadingly at Kotori, as if hoping that she would know what it was. But Kotori shook her head.

"Sorry... I don't know either."

"Umm, excuse me?" came a new voice.

They all turned in the direction of the new voice. Standing there was a girl with short brown hair and purple eyes. She wore a simple white dress, brown cape, a leaf bracelet, green ribbon, and brown shoes. She also was wearing a bag with one strap across her body.

"It's dangerous to stop here in the middle of these plains," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well..."

No one really knew how to answer, cause the girl to look between them. Eventually she looked to Honoka, and spotted the strange thing covering her leg. The girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"You... Did you all come from the forest?" she asked.

They nodded.

"I see... so you soaked your feet in the spring then."

"Yes..." Honoka was getting suspicious. "How did you know that?"

"Because that isn't a healing spring. It's a trap set by the monster that rules that forest."

"A trap?" Maria repeated.

The girl nodded. "Do you mind if I have a closer look?"

"Uh... sure..." Honoka answered.

The girl walked up to Honoka. First she had Honoka sit down with her legs stretched out. Then she started to closely examine the thing on Honoka's legs.

"So, what is this monster's trap meant to do?" Kotori asked out of curiosity.

"There are some chemicals mixed in with the monster's poison," the girl explained. "When inside the water, it will quickly weaken the body of whatever living thing is in the spring. It makes it easier for the monster since its prey won't be able to move after that."

"I've never heard of a monster being able to do something like that," Rin said.

"Well it's a unique monster. The only one of its kind in all of the world. Not to sound discouraging, but no one usually lives to get to tell the tale. It's pretty remarkable that you weren't trapped in the spring. It takes an incredible amount of power for one's body to fight off the poison's effects."

Suddenly a thought crossed the girl's mind. She looked back up, staring at Honoka. Then after a few moments, her eyes widened.

"No way... Ah- You're Kousaka-sama!"

"Yup, that's me," Honoka answered.

Any amount of calm immediately left the girl. "I'm so sorry I did not realize this sooner. You looked like ordinary travelers when first saw you from afar. I just assume-"

Honoka rested a hand on her shoulder, getting the girl to stop.

"It's alright," Honoka said. "No need to worry about any of that."

"I... Thank you." She bowed her head. "Please, allow me to cure you."

The girl reached into her bag, pulling out what looked at first like a wand. When she held it out, it expanded itself to the length of a staff. She brought it in front of her, holding it above Honoka's legs. As she began to chat, a spell circle drew itself around them. As she finished her spell, the things surrounding Honoka's legs suddenly turned to water and fell to the ground.

"Thank you," Honoka said, smiling. "Feels much better already!"

"Y-you're welcome. It was nothing..." the girl suddenly turned shy.

"That was a spell specially for that poison, wasn't it?" Kotori asked.

The girl nodded. "You're looking at the only other person I know to have survived that monster."

"Eh? You?" Rin couldn't help but be surprised. The girl didn't look extraordinary or anything.

"Well in any case," Maria spoke up, "You have my thanks as Honoka-sama's maid. What's your name?"

"Koizumi Hanayo. I'm a traveling healer."

"Well, Koizumi-san, here." Maria reached into her pocket, pulling out some gold coins. "Payment for your services."

Hanayo shook her head. "I don't accept pay. I help others because I want to."

"I see."

"Well, I should probably get going now."

Hanayo bowed before she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Honoka called before Hanayo could take a step. "Why don't you come along with us?"

Hanayo turned back to Honoka with a surprised look. "Eh? Come with you all?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Rin said. "Having a healer could be helpful if we encounter more monsters like that."

"True," Kotori agreed. "And you're not tied down to any one city, right?"

"No, I'm not," Hanayo answered. "But would it really be okay?"

"I have no objection," Maria said.

"Then that settles it," Honoka said with a smile. "Hanayo will join us!"

"I do have a condition though," Kotori said.

They all turned to her. "What is it?" Hanayo asked.

First Kotori looked at Hanayo. "Well for you, try not to address her so formally." Then she looked at Honoka. "And we need to do something about your outfit."

Hanayo was a bit surprised by the request. Honoka on the other hand had her arms crossed.

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Well, the first person we run into since leaving the city was able to recognize who you are pretty easily."

"Well... what's wrong with that?"

"It means that others will be able to recognize you as well. Travelers, other knights, criminals. This little adventure of yours will get a lot harder if everyone's trying to take you for one reason or another."

"She has a point," Rin said.

"...Yeah..." Honoka gave in.

"But where are we going to get another set of clothes for Honoka-sama without someone else seeing her?" Maria asked.

"I have a spare dress," Hanayo said. She reached into her bag and pulled out another simple white dress. "Would this work?"

"Try it on," Kotori told Honoka.

Honoka took the dress from Hanayo. She looked between the four, not saying anything. While three were confused, Maria understood why Honoka was hesitant. She grabbed Honoka by the hand and started leading her back toward the forest.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Rin asked.

"To get Honoka changed," Maria replied.

"Huh?"

Maria simply gestured around as they continued walking. Rin, Kotori, and Hanayo looked around. It took them a few moments to finally realize what the issue was. They quickly followed Honoka and Maria to the edge of the forest. They broke off a bunch of bushes to make some amount of cover for Honoka. Once things were ready enough, Maria helped Honoka change while the other three stood watch.

It was a few minutes before Maria stepped out from the cover.

"Well, we're done here."

The three turned around to see Honoka reappear.

"I think that'll work," Kotori said.

"This is kind of weird to look at," Rin said, still looking over Honoka.

Kotori shrugged. "You'll have to get used to it."

"Well, are we ready to go?" Honoka asked.

"Where are we going?" Hanayo asked.

"Uh..."

"The princess here just wanted to get out of her castle," Kotori said. "She has no idea where she wants to go."

Hanayo had to look at the other three to make sure Kotori wasn't joking.

"Okay... Well, I was originally heading to Hamil. How about we go there until we figure something else out?"

"That's a good idea," Maria said. "We can rest and stock up on supplies as well."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Honoka exclaimed.

With newfound energy, the party left the forest a second time, heading in the direction of the city of flowers.

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><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**My referencing is just horrible and I should stop but I'm bad with names so I continue... Haha **_*bows apologetically*_

**First time I had to write fight scenes before. How were they? Any suggestions for future scenes? I'd love to hear from you all.**

**As far as all this backstory-ing goes, Rin will be the last of the party to have a history with Honoka. Maria has a deeper story that will be brought up later. Otherwise, anyone else that knows Honoka will only know her as the princess, like Hanayo.**

**Speaking of which, the next character to join will also be a magic-user. I encourage guessing X3.**

**So truth be told, this chapter has been done for nearly a week now. I was originally going to wait for my friend, who wanted to draw pictures of the characters to go along with the story. Unlike what I usually do with finding fanart online and using it as reference, my friend was going to draw closely to what I imagined the characters would look like. I really want you guys to see it at least once, so I'll have them done and uploaded eventually. Patience please.**

**I had more to say I think but they have long since disappeared from my mind. So I'll end here. See you next time~ (heart)**


	6. Mystery of Hamil

**lychee-ran: Well a lot of names just generally come from the "Tales of" series of games. But Tales of Vesperia is where the world is based off of. There's no way I could've thought all this out myself X3 And yeah, I like that they're someone OoC. Makes it more interesting in my opinion. And I never thought of using Maria as part of a side pairing. That could have some potential.**

**Satuski Rin: Well the thing with the fake spring I was trying to go for is that, since there's a lot of magic potential in Honoka, the magic in her body was helping in trying to prevent the trap effects from taking over. Which is why she didn't notice until later as she was more tired. It's honestly a one-off thing and I don't even know if it'll come up again so X3 I may sneak a scene with Honoka and Kotori like that sometime later. Maybe. As I answered to lychee-ran, it's all from the "Tales of" series of games. Namely here, Vesperia, Graces, and Xillia. Though the fighting styles/classes are partly reference/partly just my imagination. **

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

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><p>It was a fair amount of walking before they reached Hamil. It quickly became clear to them how Hamil got its name. Aside from the giant sakura tree resting atop the hill, there was almost no place you could look without seeing some type of flower. The buildings were covered with tree bark, almost as if the buildings were trees as well.<p>

As they were admiring the beautiful city, they did not notice a hurried set of footsteps approaching nearby. The next thing she knew, Honoka found herself knocked onto the ground. The hurried figure only loss balance for a moment as they kept running forward. Honoka caught a brief glimpse of the person as they looked back. It turned out to be a girl. But that's all Honoka could see, as she was covered in a grey cloak.

"Sorry!" she yelled back at Honoka as she continued running.

"H-hey!" Maria called, recovering from her moment of surprise. But the girl didn't turn back again.

"Are you okay?" Kotori asked, walking over to Honoka.

"I think so..."

Kotori extended her hand, and Honoka accepted the gesture. Kotori pulled Honoka back onto her feet. Honoka then started inspecting herself.

"Doesn't look like anything happened to the dress either."

"That's what you're worried about?" Kotori asked.

Honoka put her hands on her hips. "Well it would be bad if the dress was ruined while I'm borrowing it, right?"

Kotori let out a defeated sigh.

"I don't really mind." Hanayo said. "Anyway, we should continue to the inn."

Everyone agreed, starting to feel the pain in their bodies. Hanayo led the way to the inn, and were able to rent a room without issue once inside. When they entered their room, Honoka immediately collapsed onto the nearest bed. The others spread out to the other bed and the chairs in the room, welcome the chance to sit down.

"This feels so nice," Honoka sighed contently

"You really haven't traveled before, have you?" Kotori asked.

"Well, given who Kousaka-sama-" Hanayo started, but corrected herself when Kotori glanced at her. "...Who _Honoka_ really is, it's not that surprising."

"It's definitely a lot different from training back in the castle," Honoka commented.

"Well, now we have a place to rest for now," Maria concluded, then stood from where she was sitting.

"Where are you going?" Rin asked.

"To get supplies before we set off again."

"Let me go with you," Hanayo said. "I know which shops give you good deals."

"Thanks, that would be a great help."

Maria waited for Hanayo to catch up before they left the room.

"Well, what should we-" Rin started to ask.

As she looked at the bed, she saw Honoka laying on her side and curled into a ball. Her eyes were closed, her breathing both steady and gentle.

"She's asleep already?"

"Not a bad idea," Kotori said. "I could use a quick nap myself."

Rin sighed. "Maybe I should have gone shopping with them."

"Well if you're that restless, you can still catch up to them."

Rin glared. "No offense, but I still don't trust you enough to be alone with... with _Honoka_."

"Suit yourself."

Kotori shrugged. She folded her arms in front of her and slumped in her chair. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, steadying her breathing. Rin watched with some interest.

"I know you're just faking it, but I'll give you a chance this time."

Rin made her way across the room to the door and left. There was silence as her footsteps disappeared further down the hallway.

"I really was trying to sleep, though," Kotori said to herself.

She sighed and opened her eyes again. She nearly jumped at the sight that greeted her. It was Honoka, still laying on the bed, but her eyes open again and fixed on Kotori's. She had that same bright and gentle smile she had witnessed once before, the previous night at the castle.

"It must be hard on you," Honoka said.

"What are you talking about?" Kotori asked.

"Having to be around people who don't trust you."

"Oh, that. Not really. I'm used to it already."

The smile disappeared from Honoka's face. "Why's that?"

"Life isn't as easy as it is living in Zenethra. Especially where I'm from."

"You mean Dahngrest?"

Kotori nodded. "Most people respect and look up to my family and our clan. But there are a few people here and there that would rather have us out of the picture. I've grown with it all my life."

"I see... That's unfortunate."

Kotori shrugged. "You get used to it, I suppose."

Honoka rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. "You know, we're kind of the same in that way."

"Why do you say that."

"Just because my family rules the kingdom, doesn't mean that everyone agrees with it. And being next in line, I make just as good a target as my parents."

"But isn't that why you have the Knights and your maids?"

"I suppose. But I still had to be weary of people, and was trapped in the castle for protection."

"Yet, you still went and asked me to take your exploring, despite that and our families."

"I admit, it was a risk, but," Honoka faced Kotori again. "You agreed to it, didn't you?"

"Yeah... so...? I could have just used you to escape, then hand you over to my parents."

"But you won't."

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

"Because I know you're not like that deep down. You would've done something to me the moment I opened your cell if you were."

Kotori couldn't respond right away. She adjusted her gaze, staring out the window. "That's a pretty reckless assumption."

"Maybe, but I trust my instincts. And my instincts tell me to trust you, too."

"Trust, huh..." Kotori didn't look away from the window. "Thanks," she almost whispered.

She couldn't see, but Honoka was smiling again.

* * *

><p>"Wait up!"<p>

Maria and Hanayo just reached the bottom of the staircase when a voice called out. They turned to see Rin hurrying to them.

"Will you be joining us?" Hanayo asked

Rin nodded, taking a moment to catch her breath. Maria looked back to the inn, her features shifting slightly.

"We have to give her a chance to prove herself," Rin said, reading the maid's expression.

"I suppose you're right," Maria agreed. "..._Honoka..._ seems to trust her after all."

"Well, let's get going shall we?" Hanayo suggested.

The other two agreed and they started off again. They walked side by side, with Hanayo directing them until they found the shops. There were only a few stalls set up in a semi-circle with some distance between each stall.

"Well this isn't the capital," Hanayo said. "It's the best they can do."

"Welcome, welcome! What will it be?" One of the shopkeepers greeted as they approached.

"What do you have in the way of traveling supplies?" Maria asked.

The shopkeeper's mood dropped slightly. "Unfortunately, most of our potions were recently bought up. There's little left. But! We have some quality materials from the capital if you know how to synthesize potions. We also have some weapons, armors, a couple of camping sets."

"Thank you," the three chorused, bowing their heads.

"Of course. Come to me if you need any more help."

They walked away and headed for one of the stall. Hanayo was familiar with Hamil, and knew where they could find everything already.

"We shouldn't spend too much," Rin suggested. "It might seem suspicious to spend more than what most people carry here."

The three bounced between the stalls. With that budget in mind, they were able to buy a few of the synthesis materials, some food, and three camping sets.

"This should be enough for now," Maria said. "Let's head back to-"

Just then, an explosion was heard. It came from the direction of the inn.

* * *

><p><em>This girl is almost like a little kid,<em> Kotori thought.

It had only been a couple of minutes since the others left. After their conversation had finished, Honoka had jumped off the bed, saying that she wanted to walk around the city. She was faking being asleep earlier, so it surprised Kotori that Honoka was already rested and ready to go.

"Have you been to Hamil before?" Honoka asked.

Kotori shook her head. "Onii-sama and I were trying to reach the Capital as quickly as possible. Hamil was too far out of the way."

"I see. Well we're here now! Let's go see the sakura tree!"

Not waiting for a response, Honoka grabbed Kotori by the hand and hurried forward. They weaved through a few small crowds on their way up the hill. Honoka let go once they reached the top of the hill. They both looked up in awe. The sun shining behind, the petals falling gently to the ground. The whole scene was just beautiful.

"You konw, I read taht some people believe the petals from this tree can grant wishes," Honoka said, not taking her eyes away from the tree.

"Heh, wouldn't that be something if it were true," Kotori responded.

"I believe it."

That didn't surprise Kotori, but she didn't say anything. She was starting to get tired looking straight up, so she started looking around the area of the base of the tree. She saw something that caught her attention.

"Hey, someone's trying to ruin your magic tree."

Honoka finally looked away from the tree, looking at Kotori with a pout.

"I'm not a kid you know!"

"No, look."

Kotori pointed to somewhere behind Honoka, who turned around to follow along. Then she understood what Kotori meant. She spotted a figure by the tree, sitting on their heels. They were holding a flask with a strange colored liquid in it. There were sakura petals scattered across the entire city, but there were large piles of petals piled nearby the figure. They poured the liquid over one of them. After what seemed like nothing happening, the figure put down the flask, and picked up another sitting nearby.

Though, what caught Honoka's attention the most wasn't anything the figure was doing. It was the cloak the figure wore. It was a normal grey cloak, but it was familiar.

"Uh, Honoka?" Kotori called.

It surprised the ash-blond that Honoka suddenly started walking forward. Though it seemed her mind was set, because she didn't acknowledge Kotori at all. Kotori sighed inwardly, hoping nothing was about to happen other than a conversation, before following the princess.

The cloaked figure didn't seem to notice when Honoka and Kotori first walked up. Honoka gave five seconds before realizing the figure was too focused in their work.

"Excuse me?"

That got the figure's attention, and they turned to face Honoka. Seeing the face, Honoka confirmed her suspicion. It was the girl that she bumped into earlier. Somehow Honoka knew it was her, even though it was the first time she really got to see the girl's features.

She had short, red hair that fell to her shoulders. Underneath the goggles the girl wore were a pair of violet eyes, now widening as she recognized Honoka.

"Ah- You're the girl from earlier," she stated, a red tint growing on her cheeks. "I, uh... Sorry about bumping into you like that. I was in a bit of a hurry."

Honoka shook her head. "That's alright. I should have been watching where I was going as well. What are you doing there?"

"Oh, this? Well you know how someone just miraculously fixed the sakura tree? I was-"

"Fixed the tree? Did something happen to it?" Kotori asked.

The girl looked puzzled. "You didn't hear about it? It was just this week."

"Well I'm from the ca-" Honoka was about to say.

Kotori covered Honoka's mouth as quickly as she could. "We aren't from around here," she finished.

"I-I see..." the girl said. "Well, a few days ago, something happened to the sakura tree. It was dying, and the barrier around Hamil was failing as a result. Many mages from Acardia came to try and fix it, but with no luck. I had been working in my lab, and thought I figured out a solution. But once I got here, the tree was back to normal. No one even knew how. They just said someone passed by and did some crazy magic that fixed everything."

"That's... quite a tale," Honoka said, taking it all in.

"It's lucky that the tree was fixed quickly," Kotori said. "If the barrier was down for too long and monsters got here..."

"But some mages were here already, so they could have defended the city."

"Not mages from Arcadia," the girl said. "Arcadia is a scholarly city. Everyone's more into books and research. A child could beat most of them in a magic duel."

"So, you've beaten the entire city in a duel?" Kotori asked.

Honoka shot her a glance. "Kotori that isn't-"

The girl crossed her arms. "I may look young, but I'll have you know-"

"Stop!"

Honoka's yell surprised both of them. The irritation they were feeling from each other disappeared as quickly as it flared up. Honoka turned herself fully to face Kotori.

"Honestly, do you have to try picking fights with people? First Rin, now this?"

"Hey, in my defense, I didn't say anything when we met Koizumi," Kotori said.

Honoka didn't respond, but she placed her hands on her hips, continuing her gaze on Kotori. Eventually Kotori gave in.

"Alright, alright. I'll try to be nicer in the future."

Honoka smiled. "Thanks."

"Umm... Am I interrupting something?" the girl asked, reminding the two that she was still there.

"N-no, nothing," Honoka answered, turning back to the girl. "By the way, you never answered my question."

The girl tilted her head slightly. "Question? Oh, what I was doing here." She indicated some flasks sitting on the ground where she was previously. "Like I said, I thought I had found some solutions to fix the tree, but I never got to try them since it was fixed when I got back. I still want to know if I was onto something, so I've been trying them anyway."

"On the petals?" Kotori asked. "But they're back to normal, aren't they? How would you test if you could bring them back to life when they're already alive?"

The girl stood silent for a few moments. "Uh..."

"...You didn't realize that?"

She started playing with her red hair, twirling the end with her finger, and looked away. "I... I would've figured something out."

"Well, well... Look what we have here," came a new voice.

All three of them turned. A little ways away from them stood a small group of men. Kotori counted five of them, none of them very friendly looking. Though she noted they weren't looking toward her or Honoka, but to the red-haired girl they've been talking to.

"Yeah, I recognize her," one of the men in the back said. "She's the one."

"So you're the one who messed up our friend?" The man in front, probably the leader, asked.

"W-what are you talking about?" The redhead asked.

"Come on. It shouldn't be hard to figure out the last person you sent flying. He wears a jacket like this."

Kotori looked over, seeing the girl's eyes go wide as she recognized the clothing. Apparently the men noticed as well.

"So you remember now? Good. And since you're an Arcadian mage, you won't mind if we teach you a little lesson."

The man took a step forward, and the girl took a step back as a response. Instinctively, Honoka stepped in front of the redhead. "I don't think so."

"H-hey," Kotori whispered. "This isn't our business to be messing with."

But Honoka kept a determine look toward the small gang.

"Look Miss, we don't want to hurt an innocent person if we don't have to. But if you don't hand her over, we'll have to rough you up to."

"I'd like to see you try," Honoka dared.

_It's going to cause a scene if a fight breaks out,_ Kotori thought. She sighed. _Now's not the time to be worrying about that._

Kotori moved behind Honoka and the other girl, reaching for a few of the flasks on the ground. She picked up three, grabbing them by the ends between her fingers. Then, as if they were knives, she threw them toward the group. They exploded mid-air on top of the group, causing a colorful mess of smoke as the glass shattered with the explosion.

"H-hey! What did-" the girl yelled in surprise.

"No time," Kotori interrupted.

Kotori grabbed both Honoka and the girl's hand, turning and starting to run. Both the other girls nearly fell from suddenly being pulled, but they quickly found their footing and ran in step with Kotori.

Not knowing where else to go in a hurry, Kotori led them back to the inn. They had to slow down at the entrance in order to try and look less suspicious. They went inside they went straight for their room, with the redhead following them.

"Wh- what was that all about?" Honoka asked.

"I... uh... may have lost my temper and launched one of their friends," the redhead replied.

"Launched them?" Kotori repeated.

"Well, he was playing with my stuff and he wouldn't leave me alone. I warned him but he kept going. So I blasted him away with a spell."

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "Sounds impressive."

"Not bad for a kid, huh?" The redhead was smirking.

"Perhaps. What's your name?"

"Nishikino Maki."

"Well, Nishikino-san, you should probably get moving soon. Unless you want those guys to find you."

"Why doesn't she come with us?" Honoka suggested.

Kotori shot her a glance. "This again?"

"Think about it. They know she's a mage from Arcadia. Even if they don't find her here, they know where she'll return to."

"... You do have a point." Kotori turned to Maki. "Well? How about it then?"

"Well... it's true they might find me back home... But would it be alright?"

"Of course!" Honoka responded first. "Right?"

"Well, as long as you're okay with it." Kotori looked at Maki. "You can fend for yourself, right?"

"Do you need more proof?" Maki asked.

"Then we just have to wait and ask-"

The three turned as the door was suddenly thrown open as if on cue, with Maria, Rin, and Hanayo rushing into the room.

"H-Honoka-sama, are you alright?" Maria asked between breaths.

"I'm fine, Maria-chan," Honoka said, smiling to try and comfort her maid.

"_Honoka-sama?_" Maki asked.

Maria covered her mouth, eyes wide as she realized her mistake too late. "Ah- no- I mean-"

But Maki ignored the maid and turned to the ginger in question. "Your maid address you by your first name?"

Everyone silently sighed in relief, realizing Maki didn't discover Honoka's real identity.

"A-ah, yes. We've known each other for a long time, so it feels weird for her to address me by family name," Honoka told Maki. Then she turned to the other three. "Why do you all look out of breath?"

"Well that's because we just heard what seemed like an explosion," Hanayo explained. "So we rushed to see if you were involved."

"Thanks for the concern," Kotori said sarcastically.

"Please, you just love bragging about how you can care for yourself," Rin countered, to which Kotori just shrugged.

"Well, we were involved," Kotori informed. "Which leads to what I have to say next. We need to move, quickly."

Rin narrowed her eyes. "What did you do?"

"Wait Rin, Kotori didn't do anything wrong," Honoka spoke up. "Some guys showed up and were about to her Maki here," she indicated the redhead, "but Kotori allowed us to escape."

"Well, I should really thank you," Kotori said to Rin. "They were your smoke bombs, after all."

Rin gave her a confused look while she reached a hand to one of her belt pouches, then her expression changed. "H-hey when did you-"

"When you left earlier. Does it matter? It helped us escape in the end. But we have to move before they catch up to us."

"So does that mean we're taking..." Maria started, then looked uncertainly to Maki.

It took Maki only a second to realize the issue. "Nishikino Maki."

Maria nodded. "So does that mean Nishikino-san will be joining us?"

"Wasn't that obvious by now?" Kotori was growing a bit impatient. "Come on!"

There were still questions that everyone had for each other, but for now they decided to follow Kotori's urging. Kotori and Honoka grabbed the traveling bags they brought. Maki had told them she needed to get her stuff from one of the inn rooms, so she ran out first. They met back up with her outside the inn, and once they were together, they left Hamil without a second thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**Surprise(I think)! The mage and newest member of the party is Maki-chan! Although I understand why a lot of people thought it would be Nozomi. There are a few reasons for Maki being the mage and Nozomi for her "class" later on, and when Nozomi is introduced I'll explain it fully. But for now, this is how things are.**

**Oh and don't worry. Maki will get a chance to show off her magic next chapter. Oh yes she will.**

**I do have final exams soon, but seriously, who studies? This is far more important anyway X3 Also I just always feel bad for not updating more frequently. It's okay though! A few more weeks and that's not as much of an issue.**

**Okay I'm done rambling. Leave comments as always and I hope to see you next time!**


	7. Morning Ambush

**lychee-ran: I honestly can't answer the alchemist question straight, eheh... Maybe you'll get an answer through this chapter. I guess that's true that the classes are mostly unexpected. They made sense in my head though. X3 I've always seen Maki as both Tsundere and brainy, so that's kind of how she is here. Also, no party member will be introduced in this chapter. But as for next chapter, we shall see! (I feel bad for all this ambiguity but I'm not one to spoil things for readers.) Unexpected good/bad? Don't worry, 5 girls down, 4 to go. Then the decision I guess X3 haha.**

**Satsuki Rin: I know my story telling needs work... haha. Yeah, the characters are going to be OoC a lot, I don't know if I can do anything about that X3 And that last bit reminds me I left something out that also matters to Maki's character in this story. Thanks!**

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

><p>By the time the group felt they were far enough from Hamil and in the opposite direction of Arcadia, it was dark out. Luckily for them, the trio that went shopping had bought three camping sets, because they had wanted a spare set for an emergency. They started a fire and set up the three tents. They left their other stuff outside the tents, except for Honoka and Maria.<p>

Once they finished with the tents, they gathered around the fire to discuss the next order of business. Kotori, Rin, Maki, and Hanayo were looking between each other.

"So... How are we going to do this?" Kotori asked what they were all thinking.

"I... don't mind who it is, as long as it's agreed upon," Hanayo spoke up.

"Same here," Maki agreed.

"Me as well, though I would like to avoid being with _her_ if I can help it," Rin said, indicating Kotori.

"Still acting like that?" Kotori asked.

"Don't get me wrong, you've done enough to prove yourself. But not everything is going to change in a day. I'm still a little weary of you."

Maki and Hanayo exchanged glances, wondering why Kotori and Rin were acting this way toward each other. Honoka was fighting, and losing, to stay awake, while Maria just sighed. The maid figured this had dragged on long enough, and finally spoke up.

"How about this? Minami-san and Nishikino-san will share a tent, while Koizumi-san and Hoshizora-san will share the other. Does that work for everyone?"

"The four exchanged glances. "I guess that works," Rin answered for everyone.

"Good. Now that that's taken care of, we're going to sleep." Maria got up and then helped Honoka to her feet. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight everyone," Honoka said sleepily. "Be nice to each other, okay?"

Maria led the sleepy princess into their tent.

"So, what exactly happened in Hamil?" Rin asked. Aside from saying each other's names, not much else was said since they left the city.

"Well, _someone_ has a short temper and blasted someone away before we had met her," Kotori said. Maki lowered her head. "His friends wanted to get her back for that. If Honoka didn't step in first, they would have."

"Why did you do that to him in the first place?" Hanayo asked.

"He was harassing me," Maki explained. "I asked him to stop but he wouldn't leave me alone."

"Sounds like he had it coming," Rin commented.

Maki turned to Rin. "That's a bit surprising to hear from a Knight."

Rin shrugged. "I know that the Knights stationed in this Izolle aren't very capable of their duties. Usually nothing major happens here, so they don't have to be."

"So some grow lazy to do anything at all," Kotori guessed, to which Rin nodded.

"But not all Knights are like that, right?" Hanayo asked. "Most of the ones I've encountered were really nice and helpful."

"For the most part Knights fulfill their duties, like helping others," Rin answered. "Unfortunately, they'll follow orders to a fault."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Maki wondered.

Rin shook her head. "Not when some of the commanding officers are corrupt."

"Corrupt?" Kotori repeated.

"Corrupt. Manipulating the Knights under their command to occasionally steal or do shady jobs to further their own wealth and power."

"I guess it's not really surprising that those things happen here as well. People are too easily consumed by power and greed." Kotori sighed.

"How did you find all this out?" Hanayo asked.

"Well, it doesn't seem like she's a regular Knight," Maki pointed out.

Rin raised an eyebrow. "How did you figure that out?"

"You don't speak like you associate yourself with normal Knights. Your choice of equipment is pretty unique as well."

"Pretty observant. You're right. I'm not a regular Knight. I'm part of a special unit of the Knights that directly serves the Royal Family. Because of that we don't follow normal orders."

"I've never heard of a unit like that."

"Of course not. It's a secret unit, with very few members, specially formed for the Royal Family. We gather information from everywhere in Izolle, which is why we know of the corrupt Knight commanders."

"Why hasn't the King done anything about it then, if he knows about the corruption?"

Rin sighed. "Because they're not actually breaking any laws. They aren't making the Knights they command do anything out of line."

"That's sickening," Kotori said.

"Before she left, our unit's leader was working with the King on solutions."

"But while she's gone, those will have to wait," Maki concluded.

"Kotori got up and stretched. "Well, not like this isn't fun, but not sleeping last night and today's activities are really catching up to me."

Maki covered her mouth to yawn. "I'm getting sleepy, too."

"We all are," Rin agreed. "Should someone keep watch then?"

"No need," Hanayo said.

She stood up, drawing her staff. She held it in front of her, a white spell circle forming on the ground around her. She recited a short incantation, then turned the spell loose. The circle changed the inscriptions along the inside, and expanded until their campsite was inside. The glowing faded, though the white was still visible. Hanayo shrank the staff back to the size of a wand and tucked it away.

"Simple travel barrier," she explained. "It will keep anything from entering or exiting, aside from air, and lasts until the camping sets are packed away."

"I don't know if that counts as _simple_, but it is very useful. Thanks," Kotori said.

They said their goodnights and split into their shared tents. Although she usually doesn't like the idea of sleeping on the ground, Kotori welcomed the chance to lay down and rest.

"Hey... Minami-san?" Maki whispered.

Kotori turned to face Maki. "Hm?"

"Th-thanks for stepping in like that, back in Hamil."

"Don't mention it. It was mainly to stop Honoka from doing something stupid, anyway."

"Still, you have my thanks."

Although it was dark, Maki could tell that Kotori was smiling.

"Don't worry," Kotori reassured her. "We'll stay in the area for a few days then take you home."

"Home?"

"Yeah, back to Arcadia. Your parents must be worried about you."

"I'm not that young you know." Kotori heard Maki sigh. "And... My parents have been dead since I was five, which was ten years ago."

"O-oh... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's not like you knew beforehand."

"Still... Is that why you were okay with joining us out of the blue?"

"Yeah... I've lived alone all this time... I kind of wanted the company."

"I see. Well if you don't mind, you're welcome to stay with us."

"Thanks, Minami-san."

"Kotori."

"...Huh?"

"You can call me Kotori if you'd like. I think we're pretty much friends after this, right?"

"T-then you can call me Maki."

"Heh, goodnight Maki."

"Wait, can we keep this between us? At least for a while?"

"Not ready to tell the others yet?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Then that's fine. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks... Goodnight Kotori."

Kotori finally let her muscles relax. _Friends? Jeeze that princess is starting to rub off on me,_ she thought before finally surrendering herself to sleep.

* * *

><p>A very pleasant scent woke Kotori from her slumber the following morning.<p>

She tried to move, but found something was restricting her movements. She did her best to turn over. It turned out to be Maki that was partially laying on top of Kotori. Maki's left leg and arm were what held her down. With some amount of effort, Kotori managed to remove herself from the redhead's hold. She took a moment to stretch before stepping outside of her tent.

To her surprise, it was earlier in the morning than she was expecting. The sun had just barely risen past the hill off in the distance, so it was still a bit dark out. One of the exceptions to that is the campfire set up from yesterday which was started again. That's where the wonderful scent was coming from, and that's where she found a certain princess.

Honoka was on her knees next to the campfire. Above the fire was a metal tray held up by some poles. They were from Hanayo's pack, to be a sort of stove top to allow them to cook.

"Ah, good morning Kotori," Honoka greeted, looking up.

"Good morning," Kotori returned as she took a spot near the fire. "I have to say I'm a little surprised you can cook."

"It's only simple things. Between every other responsibility I had, I never really got to learn."

"Well, it smells pretty good."

"Really? It's just eggs and toast, though."

"I haven't had a cooked meal in days. Anything warm smells good right now."

Kotori's stomach made a sound in agreement, causing her to look away from Honoka who couldn't suppress a giggle. She reached over to grab a plate. She put the egg she scrambled onto the plate, followed by two pieces of toast.

"Here you go," she said, holding the plate out.

"Thanks," Kotori said, accepting the plate. "So anyway, what are you doing up so early?"

"I usually wake up early. Although it was a bit uncomfortable for me to sleep last night as well."

"Well, sleeping on the ground is a lot different than sleeping on a nice, comfy bed."

"True. It doesn't help that Maria-chan rolls around in her sleep."

"Oh? Sounded fun in your tent."

"Hey!"

Honoka's pout meant it was Kotori's turn to giggle at the other's teasing. After she felt like she got the princess back enough, Kotori started eating. She took her first bite.

"Mmm, not bad."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Nothing too fancy, but it's still good."

"Thank goodness." Honoka seemed to be back to normal already.

"Good morning, you two."

They both turned to see Hanayo as she appeared from her tent.

"Good morning," they both greeted.

"I used your stuff to start making breakfast. I hope that's okay," Honoka said.

"That's fine," Hanayo said. "Is there some ready for me?"

"Yeah, let me just get-"

A loud roar interrupted Honoka before she could finish her thought. The three quickly turned in the direction they heard the noise. At first they didn't see anything, until they looked up. Against the sun they saw the silhouette of a large, unmistakable creature.

"A-a dragon?!" came Hanayo's startled voice.

"That can't be right. What would a dragon be doing all the way here in Izolle?" Kotori questioned. "Will this barrier hold it off?"

Hanayo shook her head. "I don't know. When do we ever have dragons here in Izolle?"

"Hey, it's coming straight for us!" Honoka exclaimed.

Kotori got the answer to her question moments later. The dragon breathed fire aimed directly at them, but the flames only made contact with the barrier and were brushed off to either side. But the dragon was still in a dive directly at them. It crashed into the barrier, completely shattering it and shaking the ground as it pulled up back into the air.

"What's going on out here?"

It was Maria that appeared from the tent, already with her revolver out and a spellcard glowing, ready to go. Her appearance was a little messy, indicating she had literally jumped up as soon as she woke up, something she was trained to do.

Her eyes scanned the area, not finding the problem until she heard another roar. Then she saw the dragon in the sky as it looped around to head straight for them again. And for the first time, Kotori saw hesitation and fear in the maid's eyes.

The dragon was closing in, faster than the first attack. With the way Maria was, there was no chance for anyone to attack before it reached them.

_"...Annihilate the vulgar before me. __**[Spiral Flare]**__!"_

In an instant, a trio of roaring flames flew forward. The flames were fast, giving the dragon no time to move. It was quickly engulfed in the spell, and soon fell onto the ground with a loud thud.

Kotori again looked toward the tents. It was Maki who had cast the spell, her weapon out already. _A scroll_, Kotori noted. She knew mages used all kinds of items to channel their magic. Typical they were wands or staves, like Hanayo. But this had been the first time she saw a scroll.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Kotori said.

"Don't thank me yet," Maki responded.

Looking back toward the dragon, they saw a figure stand up, just barely visible as the sun was a little higher. In a moment the figure broke into a full sprint toward them. A spell circle formed around Maki, glowing blue.

_"Oh frozen blades, fly sharply across the heavens."_

Maki spun once, twice, three times as she chanted, letting her scroll circle around her as if dancing with a ribbon. From the spell circle rose three blue rings, the middle being the same size as the circle while the top and bottom rings were smaller, resembling the shape of a sphere.

_"__**[Freeze Lancer]**__!"_

The spell turned loose, and frozen spears flew forward at a very quick speed. They should have been right on target, but the figure easily avoided them and continued their dash forward. Hanayo stepped forward, her weapon drawn to staff-length and held out in front of her.

_"Oh enduring protection, __**[Barrier]**__"_

Light emitted from her staff and formed a shield in front of her. It materialized just in time as the figure had risen a weapon and brought it down in striking distance. It was a spear, Kotori saw as it met Hanayo's barrier. She couldn't make out much of the figure, other than they were lightly armored and had a mask covering their face.

Suddenly the figure jumped backwards. Within the next moment Rin was where the figure once stood, just barely missing her strike on the stranger.

_"__**[Stalagmite]**__"_

As the figure landed, the ground underneath shot up and sent them flying backwards. The figured disappeared mid-air, and reappeared on the ground, completely unharmed.

"Now I'm getting mad," Maki said. _"__**[Spread Zero]**__!"_

A dark sphere appeared in front of the figure. It exploded in the next moment, before the figure could try and evade. They flew backwards, finally hitting the ground. A loud crack indicated that part of their armor had cracked. But the figure disappeared, already hard to see with how far away they had gotten from the group along with the low morning light.

"Maki!"

It was Honoka who screamed as she ran toward the mage. She tackled the red head to the ground, just as a spear stabbed the ground where she just stood. Just as quickly as the spear had struck, it vanished. In the next moment Kotori felt a presence behind her. She moved just in time as a spear came slicing the air at her.

She only caught a glimpse of the figure before they disappeared yet again.

"This is getting ridiculous," Maria said, over her initial fear and was now annoyed. _"Spread Sign, __**[Rocket in Mist]**__!"_

The spellcard in her hand flashed, her revolver glowing, and in the next second there were rings of bullets surrounding them. They circled around and flew outwards in every direction. As soon as they did they heard the loud sound of bullets hitting metal, and the figure could be seen back in the direction of the dragon. By this point the dragon had recovered from Maki's spell, getting back up. The figure leapt onto it's back and the dragon took to the air in the next instance.

_"Oh flickering blaze burn, __**[Fire Ball]**__"_

Maki casted one last spell. Compared to her others, it was the weakest she used so far, and was more of a warning to make sure the dragon and its rider didn't turn back.

"And don't come back," Maki said.

"Do you know that person?" Honoka asked. They were both still on the floor.

"No, I just hate dragons."

"Why?"

"Well..."

"How about we wait until later to ask about that," Kotori suggested. "Right now we should get moving. We don't know if that person has any back-up."

"That's a good idea," Rin agreed. "Let's hurry up and pack the tents away."

Maria and Hanayo were able to deconstruct the tents and put them away very easily. The other four gathered the bags. Without wasting any time, they were on the move once again.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**Okay first off, thank you Satsuki Rin! I had this chapter nearly done but read your review and realized I was missing the very important part of addressing Maki's back story. That would have been bad for me to forget X3. *Phew* Saved me there.**

**The mysterious figure that attacked our heroes might seem random now, but trust me it's important. Just like the little conversation around the campfire about the Knights was important too. But yes it was partly to show off Maki and Hanayo's combat roles. By the way, does the way I do the fighting and special moves make sense? Let me know if you can please.**

**No new character joins this chapter, but one will join next chapter! I shall do my best to get it out soon. I know I've been super slow the last few months with my posts and updates in general. I'm almost done with this semester so it should pick up a little bit more soon. I won't promise much because I'm also just slow with my writing now, haha.**

**Anyway, that's it for me. Please review as usual, and I'll see you next chapter~**


	8. Her Conviction

**lychee-ran: Not really orphaned but yeah, she lost her parents and lived alone. A little more light will be shed on this later probably, because I'll probably need to. Also, that was an awesome comparisons especially because Patche is one of my favorite Touhou characters X3. The party is pretty balanced at the moment in my opinion (2 fighters, an assassin-type, 2 ranged fighters and a support mage) but yes another fighter would help. I wonder if they'll get that this chapter ;]**

**Nelura: I can't really give clear answers to your questions except that it'll take a few more chapters. Except Maki, her reasons will be a little more clear in this chapter. Also, I'm a bit confused, is the tales referencing a good/bad part of the story? **

**Satsuki Rin: Yeah I agree, it's a bit sad that Maki had to lose her parents so young. Although admittedly, I feel like out of the nine girls Maki would handle it the best aside from Nozomi. Just my opinion anyway. Oh, and your intuition is just beautiful, you know that?**

**Major Mike Powell III: Don't worry, they'll get along, eventually... without the bickering X3. Yeah... unlike Rin, Maki didn't have a nice end to her back story. It felt right for her although it wasn't any easier to write, haha. Ah, more cliffhangers and mysteries. The fun part of the start to any story X3.**

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

><p>"Okay... I think this is far enough."<p>

Kotori's words were a blessing. Instantly, Honoka and Maki both fell to the floor, relived to be off their feet. The ground never felt so comfortable for them. Hanayo looked up, partially shielding her eyes from the sun now shining brightly across the land.

"Well, there goes our morning," she said.

"It couldn't be helped since we were suddenly attacked earlier," Maria said.

"You have a point. Well then, would anyone care for a little lunch?"

"Might as well," Kotori said. "We should be safe to rest here for a while."

"I'll help out," Maria offered, to which Hanayo nodded her agreement.

"So, what's our next step?" Rin asked as the two set up some things to the side.

"That depends." Kotori looked to Honoka.

"Eh? You want me to decide?" she asked.

"Well, you are the one that wanted to have this adventure."

"True..." Honoka knew she couldn't argue with that. "Hmm... What else is there to do on Izolle...?"

"Other than the port town, Capua Nor, there's no other city nearby," Rin pointed out.

"We really traveled that far already?" Honoka asked.

"Izolle isn't as big as you're thinking..."

"Then I think that decides that," Kotori said. "We'll head for Capua Nor and go abroad."

"Travel overseas?" Maki asked. "To another continent?"

"Yeah, is that okay?" Kotori asked Honoka.

Honoka thought for a few minutes. "Could we see your home city?"

"Dahngrest? I suppose so."

"Really? Then let's go!"

With new energy, Honoka leapt to her feet. But before she could take a step, a low rumble sounded from her stomach.

"I think someone needs some lunch first," Kotori said, fighting hard not to laugh.

Honoka's face turned red as she looked over to the ash-blond. "Not another word, please."

"Hey, after this morning I think I should enjoy this a little."

"Next time, I'm burning your breakfast."

"Hey now, no need for threats like that." Kotori walked over and playfully pat Honoka on the head.

Another grumble. "This is so embarrassing..."

Rin and Maki exchanged glances, unaware of the conversation the two had before the dragon attack that morning. They wouldn't get much of a chance to ask though.

"Lunch is ready," Maria announced as she and Hanayo rejoined them, both carrying a small tray.

"I hope you don't mind sandwiches," Hanayo said. "It's the best we have left after this morning's events."

"Anything sounds good right now..." Honoka said.

"There, there," Maria said, trying to comfort her. She sat Honoka down and gave her one of the two sandwiches on her tray.

"Looks like there's no reason not to go to Capua Nor now," Kotori said.

"The harbor?" Hanayo asked.

Kotori nodded. "There's nothing left to see on Izolle, and Honoka still wants to adventure."

"Ah, so we'll be going to Telos Astue?"

"Yeah. And since Nor Harbor is a port town, we'll be able to restock on supplies easily," Rin added.

"Going across the sea to another continent, huh?" Maki said.

"Is that going to be okay with you?" Kotori asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm just thinking that it'll be my first time going so far from home."

"Is it now?"

Maki nodded. "As long as you're still keeping your word."

"Of course. And don't worry. Since I offered for you to stay with us, I'll be there if anything scares you."

"I think Nishikino-san is capable of handling herself, given this morning," Hanayo said.

"Definitely not a softy," Rin agreed. "Speaking of which, you seemed a bit more aggressive than necessary toward the dragon rider."

"I thought so too," Maria said. "Was something wrong?"

Kotori caught Maki's eye. She had a suspicion of the reason for Maki's attitude earlier.

"If she isn't comfortable talking about it-" Kotori started.

"No, no. It's alright," Maki said, cutting Kotori off. "If I'm going to be traveling with you all more, I should be able to talk about these things."

"Well, as long as you're okay with it. Just stop if you start feeling too uncomfortable."

Maki nodded. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat, stalling for a bit to help relax.

"When I was five, my parents had left Izolle for some business trip. I wasn't told much else at the time, except that they would be gone for a while, and that I had to behave and listen to the other mages in Arcadia. I found out later that they had gone to Strahta."

"Strahta? You mean the continent that's almost entirely a desert?" Honoka asked.

"Yes... The very same."

"Wait, is there something significant about Strahta?" Rin asked. "Aside than it's a desert?"

Kotori thought she knew where this was going. "Honoka, is there anything unique about the wildlife of Strahta?"

"Wildlife?" Honoka thought back to a book she read before. "Well, most are unique to Strahta because they need to be able to live in the desert, and they couldn't be found anywhere else. The only exception would be the... dragons..."

A chilling silence fell over the group. Maki continued.

"One day, a Knight came to my house. It was a girl, a bit to my surprise." Rin shot her a glance. "Hey I was five at the time, and that was before I knew there were female Knights." She cleared her throat. "Aside from that, she seemed too young to be a Knight. She couldn't have been much older than me. Anyway, first she told me why my parents had left. That something had been found on Strahta, and that they needed my parents' help. And then, the announced that they had been killed."

"By a dragon?" Kotori concluded.

"Yes. According to witnesses, it was a larger than normal dragon with multicolored wings, and seemed to control the other dragons."

"Niadra," Honoka said.

"Niadra?" Rin repeated.

Honoka nodded. "According to legends, Niadra is the last living dragon of the original dragons born into this world. With the ability to absorb other living beings' power by consuming them, it is one of the most powerful beings on this world."

"And by far the creature that rules Strahta," Maria added.

"No one is sure why Niadra had suddenly turned aggressive and killed the research party, since it has allowed humans to live there for all this time. The only thing that makes sense is whatever thing they had found is important to Niadra."

"That's so unfortunate..." Hanayo lamented. "I'm sorry."

Maki sighed. "It's after finding this out that I made the obvious choice. Rather than be a normal Arcadian mage, I started studying offensive magic. I learned as many combat spells as I possibly could, because one day I want to confront this dragon. I want to return the favor for what it did to my parents."

"A-are you serious?" Rin spat out. "This dragon is like a god! Why would you do something so careless? And alone as well?"

"She won't be alone."

Five pairs of eyes all turned to the ash-blond who uttered those words. Kotori continued.

"I can tell how important this is to you. So rather than try to stop you, I'll be right there with you."

"I... I can't tell which one of you is the crazier one right now..."

But Maki was smiling. "Thanks."

"No problem. I love a good challenge, and this dragon definitely sounds like a good opponent." Kotori gave a wink.

"Well, it shouldn't be any of our concerns what you all want to do, but please make it after this little adventure," Maria said. "We don't need to get tied into something like that, right Honoka-sama?"

No response.

"Honoka-sama?" Maria repeated.

"E-eh?" Honoka shook her head. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. What did you say?"

Maria sighed. "Never mind. Shall we get going? If we hurry, we can make it to Capua Nor and catch a boat while there's still daylight."

"We should get going," Rin agreed.

Maria and Hanayo put away the food. As they started off again, Honoka caught Kotori at the back of the group.

"That was a really nice thing you said," she said softly.

Kotori sighed. "Yeah... I blame you."

Honoka had a warm smile on her face. "I knew you were a good and trustworthy person."

There was a short pause before Kotori spoke. "Hey... Did you want to come with us? When Maki goes after that dragon?"

Honoka turned to her in surprise. "Me? Why?"

"Well, you knew about that dragon because of your book. And you seem like a curious enough person to want to see the dragon in person, and not just having the book."

"Eheh... Well you got me there. Is it okay, though?

"You should be able to decide something like that for yourself."

Rin turned around. "Hey you two, hurry up or you'll be left behind!"

Kotori and Honoka were brought out of their conversation, jogging to catch up to the other four as they continued walking.

* * *

><p>Because of how their morning went, they were a lot closer to Capua Nor than they thought. It only took them a little under two hours to reach the port town. But the sight that greeted them wasn't what they were expecting.<p>

There was a small platoon of Knights guarding the entrance. Most wore the standard uniform, except for three. One had their helmet off, a tall blond woman. They were in deep discussion, and hadn't noticed them yet. Though as they got closer, Rin ran forward.

"Commander!"

The blond turned, hearing her title called out. She saw the girl running toward her.

"Rin?"

Rin stopped herself a couple steps from her. She made a fist with her hand and held it to her chest, which was the way Knights saluted.

"Hai. Awaiting orders."

Then they both started laughing. Rin let go of the pretend formalities and hugged the Knight, who hugged her back.

"What are you doing here?" the blond asked. "You were assigned with watching the princess."

"Eheh, well about that..."

Rin turned back toward the others. The blond followed her gaze as the others finally reached where the Knights were. She looked at each of them, spending a lot of time looking at Honoka.

"She looks familiar..." the Knight said. "Almost like..."

"It's nice to meet you," Honoka said.

She took the ends of her dress, moved her right foot behind her left, bowed her head slightly and curtsied. She did it with all the intention of giving herself away, as it was a special curtsy. And the Knight's eyes widened with instant recognition.

"K-k- Kousaka-sama?!"

The two other Knights the blond had been talking to noticed quickly as well. The three of them quickly fell onto one knee, their heads bowed.

"You look different with that dress and hairstyle, I didn't recognize you sooner. I'm sorry, I-" the blond started hurredly.

"Shh," Honoka sounded calmly. "Rise."

The three did as ordered, and stood up straight. They were met with Honoka's warm smile.

"There we go. Isn't it easier to speak to each other like this?"

"Well, yes... But-"

"It's alright. I understand that I do not look like a princess, and without any prior notice you couldn't have known I would be here. So you are all forgiven."

"T-thank you, Kousaka-sama."

"Speaking of which," Rin said. "Why are there so many Knights here? And to have three of our unit here as well..."

"That, we can't speak of out in the open," the blond replied. "Though, if you plan on staying a while, get some rooms at the inn and we can't discuss it there."

Honoka turned to Kotori, who answered the obvious question that was coming.

"Yeah, we can stay for a while."

Honoka smiled. Then looked back to the Knight. "We'll be waiting at the inn, then."

The Knight nodded. "Oh, I'm Ayase Eli. These are Flynn and Yuri." She indicated the Knights to her side. "I assume you know who we really are if you're friends with Rin. I command that unit. We should be getting back to our duty, so we'll finish introductions at the inn."

With that they tried entering town. Honoka, Maria, and Rin had no trouble, but then Eli stopped the other three.

"Speaking of our duty," she said, "We need to do a quick search of you three before you come in."

"What for?" Kotori asked.

"There has been suspicious things happening in this town lately. This is a precaution."

Eli's eyes showed that there was more to be said when they had privacy. Kotori nodded.

"Alright then."

Eli snapped her fingers, and three circles formed around Kotori, Maki, and Hanayo. The spell did its scans within a few seconds, and data poured onto the floating screen in front of Eli.

"Thanks, you three are good to enter."

Kotori nodded again, and motioned for them to catch up to Honoka, Maria, and Rin, who were waiting patiently on the other side of the entrance. As Maki passed by, Eli put a hand on her shoulder.

"Take care, alright?"

Maki silently nodded, and proceeded when Eli moved her hand off Maki. She rejoined the others and they walked further into town. After getting a good distance away from the entrance, Hanayo looked to Maki.

"Do you two know each other?"

"I suppose you could say that. She was the Knight that informed me of my parents' death, all those years ago."

"Really?" Rin asked, clearly surprised.

"Yeah. She's also checked up on me from time to time in recent years, to make sure I was okay."

"That's sweet," Honoka said happily.

"Heh, sounds like something the Commander would do without even us knowing."

Kotori was only half paying attention to the group's conversation. She had been looking around. Usually a port town was very busy, with people all around the place. But she has yet to see another person since they entered. Their voices were the only sound that could be heard.

_Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**I wanted to be able to get a chapter out to you guys before Christmas, because I don't what's going to happen during the holidays X3 *phew* glad I actually finished though. **

**Short and relaxed chapter for the most part. Just wanted to expand a bit on Maki's back story. Also Kotori gets another chance to show she's not as bad as her family is.**

**Also, not much of a surprise, but Eli is a Knight as well! As always, you'll get the character's backstory the chapter after they're introduced, as well as see some combat. After all, something suspicious is happening in Capua Nor.**

**As always, I'd like to hear any comments or questions you have.**

**Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and happy holidays. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, still I wish you all a good time. I may have another chapter before the year is over, we shall see. Take care!**


	9. The Mystery of Capua Nor

**lychee-ran: Yeah, I don't think Eli's role is a surprise to anyone. She just fits it perfectly, heh. Yes, both Yuri and Flynn are from Tales of Vesperia. But honestly they were just mentioned as names, because they won't come back in this story after they're done in Capua Nor X3. Something's happening, but not as big since it's still early in the story. Hopefully not too much of a spoiler for me to say that. And I addressed your question in a PM.**

**assassin101ist: Ah right, I should probably bring that up again. Thanks for reminding me! I'll explain both those points in my notes at the end of the chapter, since everyone should know about that.**

**Major Mike Powell III: Yeah... Maki's backstory is pretty sad. But hey, it gives her a chance to open up to people who care about her =3. Yeah, since Honoka's a princess, I wanted her to still be very formal and composed with situations like that, haha. Yes, Eli completely fits the role of a Knight Commander X3 **

**Nelura: Vesperia was the first game I played of the series, and of course it's my favorite. And yes, Rita is just the best of the game. I used Flynn and Yuri just character names, because after the next chapter or two they'll most likely not reappear. And I played with Eli replacing Flynn, but wanted Eli to have a bigger role for the story than that. Hence the Knight unit she and Rin are in.**

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

><p>"Kotori? Is something wrong?"<p>

Honoka was the first to notice Kotori's uneasy expression as the ash-blond continued to scan the town. Hearing her brought Kotori out of her thoughts, and she turned to see the others had stopped walking and were looking at her.

"Ah, well, don't you think the town is a little too quiet to be a port town?" Kotori asked.

"Now that you mention it..." Hanayo said, understanding the point. "I haven't seen anyone else yet."

"Look, even the vendor stalls are empty," Rin said, pointing.

"Maybe it's part of a town law?" Honoka suggested. "It isn't against the kingdom's law for a Magistrate to keep people inside for periods of time with good reason."

"Considering it is a port town though, there should at least be vendors and people working the dock," Kotori pointed out.

"I think we should continue this conversation once we get to the inn," Maria said, somewhat quietly.

Rin noticed the maid shook slightly, but she understood why. "I agree. It feels like someone's watching us right now. A bad presence."

A little quicker now, the party hurried off again. They were easily able to find the inn because of its sign, and they went inside. Unlike how empty it felt outside, it felt very crowded inside. There were a lot of people at the inn, most of them looked to be travelers as well. And they were all giving the group odd looks because they had rushed inside. Though once they realized nothing was going to happen, they went back to what they were doing.

The party kept to themselves while Hanayo got them a room. Maria, Kotori, and Rin weary of the other guests, secretly keeping their guards up for anything unusual to happen. They immediately went to their room once they got it. Though even with the privacy, no one could relax.

"Everyone's acting really strange around here," Kotori said.

"Yeah... I wonder what happened," Hanayo thought aloud.

"That's probably what Eli wants to talk to us about when she gets here," Rin suggested.

"I suppose we should just wait until she gets here, then," Maria said.

"Fine by me," Maki said. "There's something else I wanted to ask about anyway."

The redhead eyed Honoka, and the princess met her gaze.

"It's about me, isn't it?" she asked.

Maki nodded. "Well, I had a feeling that you were a princess, but why-"

"Wait, you knew about Honoka?" Rin asked, surprised.

"I doubt any normal person would be traveling around with a maid and a Knight."

"W-well... no one noticed before..."

"Moving along..." Maki turned back to Honoka. "Why didn't you tell me who you were before?"

"Ah, well. We thought it would be better not to draw attention to who I am, so we agreed to hide the fact that I'm a princess."

"Really? And no one has caught on yet?"

"Aside from you, no," Kotori said. "Then again we haven't really stayed anywhere for too long, so no one has really had time to notice."

"Did you plan on telling me at any point?"

"We were going to. But we haven't really had any peace since we met you," Kotori pointed out. "We had to run from Hamil, and then again because of that dragon."

"T-that's true."

Kotori walked up to Maki's spot on the bed and patted her on the head.

"Don't worry, we weren't trying to lie to you or anything." She looked over at Honoka. "Right?"

"That's right," Honoka agreed. "I'm sorry if it didn't seem like we trusted you."

"Ah- No, it wasn't that. I was just wondering if there was a special reason or something, that's all."

"Nope, no special reason," Kotori said.

"Anyway," Rin said, wanting to change topics, "What should we do while we're waiting for Eli?"

"When is she going to be coming?" Hanayo asked.

"Seeing how heavy the Knights are guarding the city entrances, I'd have to guess they won't be done until later tonight," Maria said.

"That's not necessarily true," Rin said. "We Cygnus Knights only have to listen to orders from the King, so Eli doesn't have to stay there. And even if Eli thinks someone should watch over the other Knights, Yuri or Flynn are just as capable as she is."

"Well, she knows where to find us," Kotori pointed out. "Since we don't know when to expect her, I think we should stay put until she comes."

The others nodded in agreement, except Maria who couldn't keep herself from a small laugh.

"Something wrong, Maria?" Hanayo asked.

"No, nothing's wrong." Though the maid was still smiling.

Maki seemed to catch on, and looked around the room.

"Uh, hey. Where's Honoka?"

* * *

><p>"Thank you for your time."<p>

Honoka quickly bowed her head before she turned around. She repeated the old man's response in her head as she walked away.

_"I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing strange happening in this city."_

Honoka had snuck out of their room. She didn't want to just sit around and wait, so she decided to see if she could gather any information at all on what's been happening in this city. However everyone she's tried talking to around the inn has given her similar responses to the old man she just talked to.

_Either people really don't know what's happening, or they're pretending that nothing's happening. But why?_

There was something strange happening in this city, that much Honoka knew for sure. Even she understood the obvious signs that the others had pointed out already weren't just coincidences. But trying to find answers on her own wasn't getting her anywhere. She sighed in defeat.

_Maybe all I really can do is wait until Eli comes._

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Instinctively, she took a step forward and turned around, distancing herself as she came to look at the stranger behind her. The last thing she expecting to find was a figure in a black cloak, hood drawn up to shadow their face. The figure was also shorter than Honoka, another thing Honoka wasn't expecting.

Without speaking, the figure motioned for Honoka to follow. Unsure of what else to do, Honoka agreed. They went downstairs through the lobby and outside. She followed until the figure stopped in front of an alleyway, motioning for Honoka to go forward. Honoka did so, entering the alley. The figure scanned the street one last time before following. They reached a dead end.

"You should be wary of this town."

Honoka gasped in surprise, not because of what the figure said behind her, but of how it sounded. The voice revealed not a male, but a female underneath the cloak. She pulled down her cloak hood as Honoka turned around, better revealing her red eyes and black hair tied in twintails

"What do you mean?" the princess asked.

"People go missing all the time around here," she answered.

"T-they do?"

The girl nodded. "Parents, children, wealthy, traveler. No matter who you are, you're at risk."

"T-then why doesn't someone tell the magistrate?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "He's behind all the disappearances."

"What? That can't be true."

"It is. He has his closest associates capture people around here and take them back to his manor."

"N-no way..."

At this point, Honoka was starting to become very weary of this mysterious girl. She took a step back, only to realize she was trapped as her back hit the wall. The girl noticed the very subtle movement, as well as the fear growing through Honoka's eyes.

"Ah, don't worry about me," she reassured. "I'm not one of the magistrate's henchmen. I'm trying to stop him as well."

Honoka sighed in relief. "I see."

"Yeah... As you could probably guess, the Magistrate took someone I knew. Three of them..." Her voice trailed off.

"Well, let me help you then."

The girl smiled. "I knew from your appearance that you could be trustworthy."

Honoka returned the smile. Then she realized something. "By the way, what was stopping you from doing something to free everyone in the first place?"

"I've tried before... This isn't something I can do on my own..."

"Oh... I see. "

"Anyway, how about we go try and free them right now?"

"Eh? How?"

"We sneak into the manor, of course."

"Sneak into the manor? I don't know..."

"Oh come on. I've done it a few times already. And we don't really have any other choice. It's not like we can just go and talk to the Magistrate."

Honoka considered the girl's words. It made a lot of sense. There wasn't much other choice they had if they wanted to act now. And Honoka _definitely_ didn't want to sit around and wait.

She nodded. "Alright then, let's do it."

The girl smiled. "Great. Come on let's go." She turned, but before walking forward, looked back. "By the way, I'm Yazawa Nico."

"I'm Honoka."

"Honoka..." Nico repeated.

Honoka once again realized too late that anyone who lives in this land knows her full name. She saw that Nico recognized her name. Thankfully, she couldn't complete the connection, and just shook it out of her mind. With that out of the way, they returned to the streets.

Nico stopped them before exiting the alleyway. She scanned the street to make sure no one was watching them before they walked out. Immediately they walked in the direction of the manor, which was deeper in the city.

Honoka saw that the Magistrate's manor was pretty hard to miss. Apart from being one of the bigger buildings in this place, it was also set apart from the rest of the city. Having to cross a bridge to get there gave the manor a different feel, which Honoka found an accomplishment since she had felt uncomfortable already since entering the city.

Of course, seeing that you could only get to the manor by a bridge made Honoka realize something.

"How are we supposed to sneak in?" she asked.

"Here, look."

Nico led them off to the side. As she peered over, she saw a very narrow walkway that lasted the entire length of the bridge. On their end was a ladder down to it, and Honoka could assume there was another ladder on the other end of the bridge. One last thing bothered Honoka.

"If we're sneaking around, shouldn't we wait until night, when it's dark out?"

"Do you really want to wait that long?" Nico asked.

"... Well..."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone is hiding inside their houses anyway. And look, all the curtains are closed. No one will see us."

With that, Nico hoped over the side, sliding down the ladder onto the small walkway. She looked back up to Honoka. "Come on."

Once again, Honoka was left thinking that they had no better option, although she wasn't terribly oppose to the idea anyway. Unlike Nico, Honoka made her way down the ladder much more carefully. After more waiting than Nico would have liked, they started to proceed along the walkway. They pushed themselves against the wall as much as possible, and were moving a little slower than a normal walk.

Despite knowing she should keep facing forward, Honoka couldn't help but look out to the sea.

"It's so beautiful..."

"You sound as though you've never seen the ocean before," Nico said, not turning around.

"No, I haven't. There is no view of the ocean from the castle."

Nico came to a sudden stop, causing Honoka to almost bump into her.

"Castle?" Nico repeated.

"Wait- I- Uh..."

"So... Honoka, as in Princess Kousaka Honoka?"

Honoka could no longer use words, and simply nodded.

"So that's why your name seemed familiar." Nico shrugged before proceeding again.

Honoka stared after Nico for a few seconds before remembering she needed to follow her. "W-wait, that's it?"

"Trust me, after some of the things I've experienced in my life, finding out your a princess isn't as surprising. Although it's still pretty interesting."

"I see..."

"Mhm. But we can talk more about it later. Right now we have other things to worry about."

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the other end of the bridge. Nico paused at the top to make sure there weren't any guards that happened to be at the entrance. She decided it was safe, and signaled that to Honoka. Both of them climbed up and back onto more stable ground. Immediately as they landed they dashed off to the side, taking cover behind some bushes.

"Look over there." Nico was pointing to the side of the building.

Honoka followed Nico's finger, eventually spotting what Nico was pointing at. A window that was opened slightly, with a tree conveniently nearby and tall enough for them to climb into the window.

Without having to say anything, the two of them made their way over to that tree. Nico helped Honoka climb up first. Once Honoka was safely on one of the branches, she reached to pull Nico up with her. Nico made easy work of quietly opening the window, and they were inside within a few moments.

Honoka looked around. Had it been under other circumstances, she might have felt relaxed. A lot of the nice items in the room reminded her of home. However, she knew now wasn't the time for things like that. Nico had slowly started creeping forward, so she followed after her.

_This is quite cliche, isn't it?_

In the many novels Honoka read in the castle that had a stealth scene, it was almost always in some kind of vent. And as Honoka moved as carefully as possible to make little sound while she and Nico crawled through some air vents, all she could think about were those books. Although Honoka regarded that as a good thing, as she found some excitement in actually getting to experience those scenes rather than just reading about them.

"Hey, Nico," Honoka whispered.

"Hmm?"

"You seem to know a lot about what's happening. Could you tell me what it is that the Magistrate does?"

"...It's probably better that you see for yourself."

There was something about the sad tone Nico took that concerned Honoka, and told her not to push any further. So they continued crawling their way through the vents, Nico leading the way. Eventually she signaled for her to pause. It was one of the rooms the vents let out to. She motioned for Honoka to move next to her and look into the room. As Honoka arrived next to Nico and looked down, she became horrified by the scene below.

Along the wall opposite them were a few big prison cells, each containing around twenty people. They were all adults. Their clothes were torn in places, and Honoka could barely make out red markings on parts of their bodies. Honoka only had to look at the guards to realize they were whip marks. But that wasn't the worse part.

Outside the cells moving all around, and looking in worse conditions than those within the cells, were children. They were being treated like slaves, being ordered to do this or that, and being whipped for any and all mistakes. Honoka could assume they belonged to some of the adults within the cells. Every time a different child was whipped, or fell and was hit for it, a voice within the cell cried out. The mothers would cry, and the fathers yelled at the guards, enduring pain in hopes to spare their kids.

Honoka felt her heart sinking. She was a princess, and she grew up learning to treat all her people equally. So to see this kind of treatment, to children even, was absolutely horrifying for her.

She saw a little boy fall down, and was immediately whipped for it. Two girls, both a little taller and presumably older, immediately abandoned the single-file line they were in to come to his aid, shielding him from more whips. Honoka managed to catch site of the tallest girl's face. She looked very familiar... Almost like-

"Kokoro... Kokoa... Kotarou..."

Honoka looked to her side at the sound of Nico's breaking voice. Her heart nearly broke at the revelation.

"They're your siblings... aren't they?"

Nico wiped a tear from her face as she nodded. Honoka looked down to her hands, unable to bring herself to look at the scene within the room any longer. But movement from Nico made her look up again. Nico was now holding a gun in her hand.

_"Ice,"_ Nico whispered.

The gun emitted a faint blue light which covered the entire gun before fading. Honoka could feel the magic now infused with the gun. Nico held it out, pointing it at one of the guards.

"W-wait, Nico," Honoka breathed.

"I have to."

Nico went to pull the trigger.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi guys, nobodD here!<strong>

**I know this is late but, hope you all had wonderful Christmas and New Years!**

**Also, I'm very, VERY sorry for being soo late with getting back to you all *bows apologetically*. I didn't want it to take this long to upload, and I feel super bad about that. This chapter was pretty complicated, and I'll go over why.**

**First off, Nico. She wasn't supposed to be introduced this chapter at all. She wasn't even supposed to be the next character to be introduced. But when figuring out how to approach Capua Nor's mystery, I realized this would be an insanely good spot to introduce Nico. Although, once again it's with a pretty dark back story. But don't worry, hopefully the next chapter makes up for that and get's to show off what I think is a really awesome style for Nico to use.**

**Speaking of the next chapter, and I guess this chapter, I must apologize again. This was actually supposed to be a longer chapter, and was originally going to focus on Eli and revealing the details of Capua Nor that way. But because I decided to add Nico into the mix, I decided to cut the long chapter into two. I know I made it sound like a lot was going to happen in this chapter, and it was supposed to. Again, hopefully the next chapter makes up for the sudden change.**

**Lastly, I want to address Richter (the OC that's Kotori's brother in this story), and things back at the castle. I think I said this before but I'll mention it again. After Honoka and crew left Zenethra, I was going to focus on what the party is doing, and focus on their point of view in the story. Obviously they wouldn't know what's happening to the others, so I don't include them in the chapters. But I will say that they make appearances later on in the story. Just wanted to clarify that.**

**That gets out most of what I wanted to say for these notes out of the way. Hope you stay around for the next chapter, because there's no way in hell our heroines are going to let something like this slide. And Honoka and Nico still need to get themselves out of whatever is about to happen to them. I will do my best to get the next chapter out as quickly as possible, while I still haven't started my next semester of college.**

**Also! Sometime soon I'm going to be publishing a beta chapter for a new story idea I have. But that's something I'll explain more on the actual post. If you're into crazy stuff, be on the lookout for that.**

**That's it from me. Hope to see you next time~**


	10. Vengence

**lcyhee-ran: Originally, yeah the chapter was supposed to be more about Eli. But it turned into Nico's introduction. Both Nico and Eli will be revealed more this chapter (hopefully). And haha, that joke X3**

**Major Mike Powell III: I'm so sorry I did this to you last chapter. And, I feel like you might like Nico's style. I enjoyed coming up with it X3.**

***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

****Note: I wrote… A lot… Have fun reading X3**

*****Another note: Because I'm late and don't have anything prepared, 1.17 Happy Birthday Hanayo! x3**

* * *

><p>Nico wasn't about to let that good-for-nothing guard get away with harming her little siblings. She pulled out one of her pistols strapped to her leg. It wasn't her sniper rifle, but that didn't mean she still couldn't hit the target from this distance.<p>

Really, her training made it so she _couldn't_ miss from this distance.

_"Ice."_

She used the macro word that would cast her enchantment spell. It wasn't a very complicated spell, but macros made it easier to switch elemental enchantments on her weapons on the fly, which was especially useful when she wasn't sniping. She could be reckless, she knew, but that quality shined brightly when she wielded both her pistols in the middle of a fight.

She gave the spell the second it needed to work, coating her weapon in a thin layer of ice magic. Once it was ready, she held it out forward. Her sights were on the furthest of the guards from her, the only guard who would notice where the bullet came from should she shoot.

"W-wait, Nico," she heard Honoka whisper.

"I have to." Nothing was going to stop her. She was prepared for any attempt Honoka could make to try and stop her. Or so she thought.

With a quick motion, Honoka grabbed hold of the gun. She pulled on it, changing the aim of the gun from the guard to _herself_.

"W-what are you doing," Nico stammered.

"Nico, listen to me," Honoka pleaded. "This is wrong and you know it."

"This? Don't you see what they're doing? They're-"

"I know. Trust me I want to do something about it too. But what if you shot someone right now? You'd alert the entire manor that we're here. It could us and everyone they're holding in danger, worse than what they're experiencing right now."

"I... I guess you're right." A tear could be seen from Nico's eye. "But, this is the closest I've ever gotten to actually being able to do something. I thought I finally had a chance."

By this point Nico's hands fell to her lap, lowering her weapon. Honoka leaned forward to hug Nico.

"Don't worry, we will do something to fix this. Let's head back to the inn."

"The inn? Why?"

"To rejoin my friends. I'm sure with all of us, we'll be able to do this."

Honoka had let go of the hug and they were face to face. Nico saw in the princess's blue eyes her sincerity and determination. Slowly, Nico nodded.

"Alright... Let's go back." She took one last look at the scene below. "I'll free you all, I promise."

Nico turned to start crawling back the way they came. Before Honoka went to follow, she looked down as well.

"As princess of Izolle, I will make things right," she vowed.

* * *

><p>After successfully sneaking out of the manor, the two went straight back to the inn. The afternoon had turned to evening while they were in the manor, and the darkness of the night sky made reappearing on the streets easier for them.<p>

"Honoka-sama!"

Honoka found herself being tackled to the ground within seconds of entering their room at the inn. She adjusted herself to lay flat on her back, finding her maid on top of her and hugging her as tightly as she could. When Maria finally let go of their embrace, Honoka could see the worry that took over her while she was away.

"Maria-chan... I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I just assumed that you weren't going to disappear for so long. I thought you were going to be around the inn. And then we couldn't find you. I should have gone with you instead. I-"

Honoka gave a look that her maid was very familiar with. It asked for silence, and that Maria calm herself down. After a few deep breaths, Maria nodded.

"It wasn't your fault, Maria-chan. So don't go blaming yourself like always."

"Although, I would have to side with her on this. It wasn't very smart of you to go wandering off like that." Honoka passed Maria to see Kotori as she spoke, an amused smile on her face. "Still, glad to see you're still in one piece."

"Yes, good to see. Although rest assured we Cygnus Knights would have rescued you if anything had happened."

Honoka saw as the tall blond Knight came into her view. "Eli."

Eli smiled, then looked away from where Honoka lay on the floor. "And, who is this?"

When Maria tackled Honoka to the ground, Nico had walked into the room, closing the door behind them. She had been standing there quietly ever since. Now that they took notice to her again, she spoke up.

"Yazawa Nico," she said. "I asked Honoka to accompany me for something. So don't be too hard on her."

"That sounds like Honoka a reason Honoka would suddenly disappear for," Hanayo said playfully.

"Still, next time let somebody know before you go running off," Maki said.

"I'm sorry for worrying everyone." Honoka was standing up again by this point, and bowed her head.

"So, if you don't mind me asking," Kotori said to Nico, "What was it that you and Honoka were doing?"

"Actually, that's something we want to talk to the rest of you about," Nico answered.

Honoka nodded, then looked at Eli. "We found out what's been happening in this city."

The light mood completely vanished from the room.

* * *

><p>It took a while for Eli, Nico, and Honoka to reveal everything they knew to the others.<p>

Nico and Honoka went first. They explained how they snuck into the manor, and what they saw in the prison room. Nico also mentioned that her sisters and brother were among those that were taken. She was going to reveal what she almost did in the vents, but Honoka signaled subtly for Nico to keep quiet about that particular detail.

A lot was revealed to everyone once Eli got to share what she had been investigating.

To start with, this wasn't something that the Magistrate only started doing recently. From what Eli had found out, this had been going on for months now. Unfortunately, no one was able to say or do anything about it. Anyone who knew about what the Magistrate was doing was tracked down and captured as well. Even travelers who happened to hear someone talk about it was usually captured. The Magistrate didn't want to take any chances.

The actual reason for why the Magistrate was capturing people, or at least the adults, wasn't very exciting. It was a somewhat expected reason, he just wanted to do it. However, when the adults were slowing down in their labors because of exhaustion, the Magistrate didn't hesitate to bring their children in. A few of the adults snapped at that and tried to get back at the Magistrate directly. Unfortunately, they failed and paid the ultimate price for that offense.

"That's... that's horrible," Hanayo said as the explanations were finally finished.

Kotori nodded in agreement. "Well, I guess it isn't too surprising. People always let power get to their heads and become stupid people." She looked to Honoka. "No offense."

Honoka waved it off. "As long as that wasn't directed toward my family. Besides... I just saw enough proof to believe you anyway."

"So, you all will help me to bring down the Magistrate, right?" Nico asked, doing her best to control her emotions.

"Of course," Kotori answered. "Although, it's really up to the Princess here how she wants to do it."

"I suppose that means she'll have to get the King and Queen," Eli thought aloud.

All eyes turned to Honoka, who closed her eyes and folded her arms. Although it was just for show. She already knew what she wanted to do. She met everyone's gazes as she opened her eyes again, a smile forming on her face.

"Let's break into the manor and free everyone!"

Her words were met with surprised expressions on everyone's faces except for Maria, who did her best to keep from giggling. Kotori was the first to recover, a grin touched her lips.

"I guess we should've expected a response like that," she said.

"Yeah. Honoka doesn't seem like a typical fairytale princess," Hanayo agreed.

"I prefer this way anyway," Eli said.

"Yeah, official business was never our style anyway," Rin added.

"I'm all for it. Sounds like fun," Maki said.

After hearing everyone's responses, Honoka turned to Nico. "Well, there you have it."

"You all are a strange bunch." Nico shook her head while smiling. "But still, thank you."

* * *

><p>While it was night, Eli suggested that they wait a while longer until most of the city was fast asleep. Until then, they were free to do whatever they wanted to pass the time. Except for Honoka, who wasn't allowed to leave the room.<p>

Unlike earlier in the day, the city entrance was lightly guarded. There were a lot less Knights around. The only two who were actually guarding like they were supposed to were Yuri and Flynn. They were hiding from view, and surprised Kotori when they popped up. Once they recognized it was Kotori, they told her she was free to move in and out of the city as she wished, and both went back into hiding.

Luckily for her, the thing she was looking for wasn't very far from the city entrance. She only had to walk for a couple of minutes to find the girl she was after: the short, twintailed girl, who was currently firing her two pistols into a series of targets. There was a very small light being used to reveal the targets. Yet despite the poor visibility, Kotori noted that Nico never once missed the center of a target.

"Impressive."

"Thanks." Nico didn't seem surprised by Kotori's sudden appearance.

Kotori watched with a lot of interest as Nico continued her target practice. As more and more bullets crashed into the center of the targets, she noticed something odd about the bullets.

"Ice bullets? Those aren't very commonly found here in Izolle."

"They're not real bullets either," Nico responded.

"Not real? So then, you're using magic?"

"Yup. Magic allows me to fire as many bullets as I want."

"Eh? But I thought conjuring bullets used a fair amount of magic."

"Normally yes, it takes a huge amount of magic. Some time ago, I came across a secret variation on the spell. I'm not quite sure how it works, but all I know is that instead of using up magic per bullet, it costs me a small amount of magic to fire bullets endlessly."

"That sounds… extremely convenient."

"It is, and very useful, too. Because of that, I'm able to use my magic in other ways."

"Like enchanting your bullets?"

"Exactly."

Nico put both pistols back into their holsters on her belt, and picked up the sniper rifle resting on a nearby tree. The gun started faintly glowing for a few seconds, a sign that Nico was linking her magic to the sniper to conjure bullets.

The air was still, but as the sniper started lightly glowing white, Kotori felt a bit of wind. The wind stopped as the glow faded. Off in the distance, Kotori noticed a bird take off from a tree. In a heartbeat, Nico took aim with the sniper and pulled the trigger, and in the next moment the bird fell from the sky.

"That was…"

"A wind-infused sniper bullet," Nico answered. "Enchanting bullets with wind makes them travel faster, and with a sniper bullet it's basically an instant hit."

"I see…" _Poor bird._

It was silent for a couple of minutes as Nico went back to shooting the targets on the trees. Again, Nico never missed the center of a target.

"You're really good," Kotori said after a while.

"Thanks. I kind of had to be growing up."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"My parents weren't around very often while I was growing up. And sometime after my brother was born, they just left us. So I had to take care of my three siblings by myself."

"Wow, that's unfortunate. I'm sorry to hear that."

Nico shrugged. "I'm used to it by this point. But without our parents around, I had to find some way to find some way to protect me and my siblings. It was by chance that I learned how to use a gun."

"I see…"

"Even though I worked and worked to get better… It still wasn't enough to protect them… Sitting there, powerless to do anything while I watched them taken away from me…"

Kotori heard Nico's voice shake, right as she took another shot. Not only was it the first shot Kotori observed that didn't hit the center of a target, it flat out missed the target completely. She heard the unmistakable sound of sniffling, and understood what was going on. She went up beside Nico, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, this wasn't your fault."

Nico turned to Kotori with teary eyes. "How is this not my fault?"

"You did everything you could to protect your siblings, but there's only so much that a person can do alone."

"I-I guess you're right…"

"This time, you won't have to do everything by yourself. We'll help you rescue your siblings, and the rest of the people that were captured. And then you can teach that filthy Magistrate just what happens when you're messed with."

Even though it was dark, Nico could see Kotori smiling. Suddenly, the worries she was just experiencing washed away, and she smiled back. "Thanks."

"No problem. Just, let's keep that last part a secret between us. While I'm sure the others aren't opposed to freeing everyone, I don't think they'll want to… _dirty_ their hands like that."

Nico nodded. "Deal."

"Come on, let's get back to the others."

* * *

><p>"So unlike regular Knights, you weren't born a noble?"<p>

"That's right," Eli responded to the young redhead.

Maki looked around the plaza. Unlike the middle of the day, where the Magistrate had suddenly ordered everyone to stay indoors, there were others walking around the city now. Apparently the Magistrate did this when he sent his henchmen out to capture more people. And once the Magistrate gave the all clear for everyone to come out again, there was no fear for anyone to be walking around. As long as they didn't do anything to make the Magistrate target them, of course.

"That's something our unit has in common," Eli explained further. "None of us were born nobles, yet we still became Knights. Although we were fairly average during training, we each excelled in things that normal Knights don't usually learn. The King noticed that, and he eventually came to form the Cygnus Knights."

"Wow, that sounds pretty cool. So, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"You want to ask me what my specialty is, right?" Eli guessed.

"Was it that obvious?"

Eli stood up. "Come on. If I'm going to show you, it should be where we won't be easily seen."

Trying not to make it too complicated, they just chose to use an alleyway for privacy. Once Eli felt they were far enough from the streets to not be seen on accident, she turned to face Maki.

"Okay, just stand still, no matter what, alright?"

"Okay." Maki nodded, preparing herself as best as she could.

Eli stepped away from Maki, creating space between them. Maki could hear Eli take a deep breath. Then she saw Eli move her right hand in a counter-clockwise motion, while taking a step forward with her left foot. As she stepped forward with her right, she extended her right hand out to arm's length, sweeping it across as she slowly spun around once. Another step, and Eli brought her both her hands above her hand as she did a quicker spin this time.

Within the next moment, there was a crescent-shaped blade right by her neck, shining the moonlight across her face. It took every bit of her willpower to not move at all, like Eli told her, until Eli pulled her weapon away.

"This weapon is my specialty," Eli said proudly.

"A scythe, huh? Well that definitely isn't a normal weapon for a Knight to use," Maki agreed.

"Yeah but if you ask me, it's a lot more fun than a boring sword and shield that most of them use."

"I wouldn't know. I've never used any of those weapons before. But that aside…"

"I have better tactical views and analytical skills than even some of the oldest Knight commanders. The King personally wanted my help because of that, as well as a handful of other Knights with special talents. Eventually he made the Cygnus Knights so we didn't have to waste time with normal Knight duties."

"I see. And because of your talents you were made the Commander?"

"Not quite. Actually, the reason I was made the Commander was because of Rin."

"Rin? Really?"

Eli nodded. "Her specialties are speed and deception. Back at the academy, she was always sneaking extra food, playing tricks, and just generally causing trouble for the instructors. She snuck into the King's Quarters one time, and she would have taken some of his things if I hadn't caught her. The King rewarded me because of that. He also recognized Rin's talents, and made her a Cygnus Knight after she graduated from the academy."

"Wow, that all sounds nice…"

"So, how have you been since… the _incident_?"

"I've been… about as well as you could expect living on my own…" Maki responded, her voice a little dark.

"I see… And have you done what I suggested to do before?"

Maki nodded. "I've studied magic as much as I can. I'm starting to look at that advanced spell book you gave me the last time you checked on me."

Eli smiled. "That's good. Come with me back to the capital after this is all over, and we can talk to the King about making you a Cygnus Knight."

"Is it really that easy?"

"We'll find out when the time comes, right?" Eli put an arm around Maki. "Come on, let's head back to the inn."

* * *

><p>Maki, Eli, Kotori, and Nico all reached the front of their inn room at the same time. They entered a very relaxed room. Honoka was laying on one of the big beds, with Maria sitting next to her. They were both reading books. Rin was taking a nap on the other bed, and Hanayo was balancing things on her staff.<p>

Honoka replaced her bookmark, closed the book, and jumped off the bed as the four entered.

"You're all back," she said happily. "Does that mean it's almost time?"

"Almost," Eli answered. "But first thing's first."

"Coming up with a plan?" Rin said, rubbing her eyes as she sat up on the bed.

"Correct." She turned to Nico. "Because I don't think it's wise to use the same method you two did earlier when there's eight of us."

"Fair enough," Nico answered. "So what are you thinking?"

Eli smiled, pulling out a piece of paper from her bag. "It just so happens I have a map of the manor, with a convenient hidden entrance around the back."

Hanayo raised an eyebrow. "And how did you manage that?"

"What did you think that security scan we made you do at the entrance was for? One of the Magistrate's henchmen that was running errands gave us all the info we needed, without him even knowing it."

"Hehe, as expected of Eli," Rin said.

"The first part of this will be about stealth, so we'll be divided into pairs to make movement easier."

"Maria?" Honoka asked.

"Of course," Maria answered, knowing what Honoka was going to ask.

"That makes one pair," Eli said, understanding the exchange as well.

"I'll work with Nico," Kotori said. "As long as it's alright."

Nico nodded. "That's fine with me."

"Hey Maki, how about we team up?" Rin asked.

Maki shrugged. "Alright then."

"Guess that just leaves you and me," Hanayo said to Eli.

Eli smiled. "Looks that way. Now then…" She opened up the map on one of the beds while everyone gathered around. "We'll need one pair to sneak in and steal the cell keys from the guards in this room. Two pairs will go and take out the henchmen guarding the cells in these two rooms, and the last pair to clear the henchmen in these rooms on the pathway leading out." Eli pointed to the corresponding rooms as she mentioned them.

"Sneaking the keys away from the henchmen will be easy," Maria said. "We'll take that task."

"Fighting henchmen sounds easy enough," Rin said. "So we'll be one of those pairs."

"Well take the other room then," Nico said.

"Then we'll clear the exit," Eli finished. She looked to Rin. "Do you still have spare Signal Bracelets?"

"You're asking the girl who made those bracelets for the Cygnus Knights, if she has any bracelets?" Rin asked with an amused expression. She reached into one of the bags on her belt and produced a number of simple-looking bracelets.

"Good point. Anyway, when you tap one of the three lights on this bracelet, it will flash that light on other bracelets within a certain distance. Rin, signal yellow when you've taken care of your room. Kotori, signal green when you two have cleared yours. Kousaka-sama, after you gotten the keys, wait for those lights before you go to open the cells. Everyone wait for me or Hanayo to signal the blue light before coming to the exit. Understood?"

She looked around as everyone nodded their understanding.

"Good. Once we're all together again, we'll go after the Magistrate. There aren't any other exits, so he won't be able to escape us." She then flipped one of the bracelets to the opposite side of the three lights, revealing one more light. "If something goes wrong and your part of the plan falls apart, use this red light as a warning signal. We have to think on the fly from there."

Everyone nodded again to show they understood, and each put on a bracelet.

"Alright, I think we're ready then. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Because of the how dark it was at night, they didn't have to sneak along the side of the bridge like Honoka and Nico did earlier in the day. Though, they still used a few of Rin's smoke bombs just to be safe.<p>

Once they cleared the bridge, they made their way to the right of the manor, the opposite side that Nico and Honoka were on earlier. Toward the end of the right wall had what they were looking for. AN unusually large collection of bushes gathered against the wall. They moved some as carefully and as quietly as possible to reveal the hidden entrance to the manor.

As planned, they split up into pairs once they were inside. While the others went to the left, Honoka and Maria followed the hallway to the right, with Maria leading the way. Just like back at the castle, Maria would peak around a corner first, and Honoka would wait for her to signal it was clear before they moved on.

It wasn't very long before they found the room they were looking for. They crept up quietly to the door, setting themselves against the wall on either side. Honoka nodded to Maria to signal that she was ready. Maria pulled out a spellcard, and flicked it under the door. A bright flash that leaked through the door told them that the spellcard had activated. Maria threw the door open and they both rushed inside.

As she ran in, Maria pulled out her revolver, and in an instant had her sights on one of the henchmen blinded by the spellcard. She shot a perfect shot, causing the henchmen to collapse onto the floor. Luckily for him, Maria had replaced the ammo in her magazine with non-lethal rounds. So he wasn't dead, but the paralyzing effect was strong enough to keep him knocked out for up to a day.

With two quick flicks, she downed two other henchmen that had started to shake off the spellcard effects. She heard a noise to her right, and turned to see one more henchmen, now back to normal and raising his weapon to strike Maria. Though, he wouldn't get a chance. A magic bolt caught him by the chest and sent him flying into the wall, with enough force to knock him out.

"Went just a little bit overboard there, Honoka-sama?"

Honoka for her part looked completely shocked. "I… didn't think I put much that much power into it."

"Well, it does the job either way." Maria grabbed the keys off one of the knocked-out henchmen.

"Now we wait."

* * *

><p>"I'm surprised no back-up has arrived yet," Hanayo said as they walked over a few unconscious bodies.<p>

"Shows you how attentive these guys are," Eli replied.

"Or they weren't expecting people to be able to challenge them."

"Well, if we pretend this is a training session, then these guys won't seem as disappointing."

"Don't get too confident now. They might just surprise you."

Eli gave her a curious look. "You think so?"

Hanayo smiled. "Not at all. But someone had to say it."

"Heh, I suppose so. Ready for the next room?"

"I should be asking you that. I've only had to use one spell, while you do the rest of the work."

"You never know, we could always just stand here and chat."

Hanayo shrugged, conceding the point. She waved her staff, using the same spell again. It was a wind spell used to make a person move faster. She casted it on Eli, who held her scythe up again.

"See you in a bit," she said with a smile, before speeding off into the next room.

Since they were just trying to knock people out, and not kill, Hanayo knew Eli wasn't using the scythe blade to strike people. Still, the loud thuds of the handle and the occasional scream of fear of a henchmen about to meet the same fate, didn't sound any less painful to Hanayo.

"I'm glad I'm not on the receiving end of that."

Saying that to herself, Hanayo decided to finally follow Eli into the next room.

* * *

><p><em>But, there was only one of this girl a second ago-<em>

That was the last thought the henchman had before being struck at the neck, and falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Oof, that didn't sound too pleasant," Rin said, rubbing the part of her hand she struck the henchman with.

Just then, she felt the threatening presence of a blade, and instinctively rolled to the right. Another henchman's sword came crashing down onto the floor where Rin was just standing. Rin came out of her roll standing low, a similar stance to a cat ready to pounce. She pulled out her knife, a devilish grin on her face. It had just the effect Rin wanted. The henchman flinched, fear just barely showing in his eyes. That hesitation was all Rin needed. She sprang forward, charging directly for the henchman.

He caught Rin's knife with his sword, their blades clashing against each other while the two stood still, not giving the other any ground. The henchman was ready to overpower the girl, when something hit him in the back of the head. Before completely losing consciousness, he saw the girl in front of him turn into a puff of smoke.

"This won't be very fun if you all fall for the easiest tricks in the book," Rin said mockingly to the henchman she just knocked out.

"Aren't you enjoying this a little too much?" Maki asked.

"Its fine, isn't it?" She turned to the young redhead. "We're just knocking them out. It's not _that_ bad."

Maki rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

"Uh…" Rin noticed a henchman trying to sneak up behind Maki.

But the redhead felt it coming too. She stomped her right foot into the ground. As she did, the ground beneath the henchman shot up, throwing him high up. Maki spun around, a red spellcircle already formed around her. She extended her arm, aiming her spell. As the henchman was about to start falling down, a trio of fireballs flew forward. All three hit the poor fellow, sending him flying into the wall before finally bouncing onto the ground.

"And you think I'm overdoing it…" Rin said, admiring Maki's magic mastery.

"That's his fault," Maki responded. "He tried a sneak attack. The fool."

Rin couldn't argue with that. "Well, we took care of everyone in here."

"I guess we signal for Honoka and Maria."

"Right."

Rin tapped the yellow light on her bracelet. Maki saw the same light on her bracelet light up.

* * *

><p>Kotori blocked another sword that came her way. The henchman pulled his blade away, bringing it back for another strike. That was his mistake. Kotori met the blade again, but with much more force than the first time. The sword went flying out of his hands, and before he could react, Kotori flipped her hold on her own sword, and brought the handle smashing onto his head.<p>

"Well this is going about as expected," she said casually.

She turned around as she heard more gunfire. She was just in time to see land six consecutive shots into the same two henchmen. Judging by how fast and how far they flew backwards, Kotori guessed Nico had enchanted her two pistols with wind. Impressively enough, the impacts left two dents on the wall.

Kotori saw as one of Nico's pistols glowing light blue for a few seconds. She fired that pistol at one of the two bodies. As the bullet connected, the body was encased in ice.

"So… I'm guess that was the guy you saw hitting your siblings?"

Nico nodded. "Lucky for him this is all we were told to do."

"Onee-chan!" came a voice from the cell.

Kotori and Nico turned around and hurried over to the cell. Three kids, who Kotori figured where Nico's siblings, were standing by the bars of the cell waiting for them. Kotarou, the only brother and the youngest sibling, reached his hand through the bars. Nico took his hand into her own, holding it tightly.

"Onee-chan, you came!" he said happily.

"Of course I did," Nico replied as evenly as possible. Kotori could see she was fighting back tears. "I'm so sorry you all had to go through so much."

"Don't worry about it, Onee-chan," Kokoro said.

"That's right," Kokoa chimed in. "You knew you would come for us in the end."

Kotori noticed that Nico's siblings weren't the only ones gathering where Kotori and Nico were.

"Good to see you again, Nico," said one of the men nearby.

"Same to you sir," Nico replied.

"I'm sorry. I haven't really been doing my part since you all came to Capua Nor."

Nico shook her head. "You've already done more than enough just by giving us a place to stay."

The man smiled. "Well if you can get us all out, then we can talk about new living arrangements for you and your siblings once this is all over."

Just then, they heard the door open. Both Nico and Kotori stood up and spun around, Kotori readying her scythe again while Nico already had a pistol aimed at the door. They were met with a gun aimed back at them.

"Looks like everything's okay here," Maria said, lowering her revolver. She moved away from the door as Honoka followed her inside.

"You two?" Kotori said, surprised.

"We opened the cell in the other room and you two still didn't signal," Honoka explained. "We were getting worried."

"Oh right, the bracelet. I forgot."

"Well you two are okay, so I guess it wasn't a problem in the end," Maria said. She tapped the green light on her bracelet as she made her way over to Kotori and Nico.

Everyone inside waited for Maria to unlock the cell. As she did, the blue light started glowing on all of their bracelets.

"Looks like Eli and Hanayo are done as well," Honoka said. "Come on, let's go!"

"Everyone follow Honoka. She'll lead you out of here," Nico said to the crowd.

No one questioned anything and did as they were told. They hurried out of the cell and joined the others that were captured and held in the room Rin and Maki liberated. Nico was the last to leave the room, and as she was about to following behind everyone, Kotori grabbed her by the arm. Silently, she motioned down the opposite hallway, tapping the pistol closest to her with her other hand. Nico quickly realized what Kotori was trying to tell her.

Honoka stood by the door leading to the next room, making sure that everyone went through and no one was left behind. She barely managed to catch a glimpse of Nico and Kotori slipping around the corner.

The route to the entrance of the manor went by quick and easy. Aside from having to step over a few of the unconscious henchmen, there were no distractions or attempts to stop them. Which no one was complaining about, since it made things easier for them. Soon enough they were at the entrance, where they found Eli and Hanayo sitting on some chairs and casually talking.

"Ah, there they are," Hanayo said, spotting the large group.

"Yeah, sorry if we were slow for you two," Rin said jokingly.

Eli stood up and addressed the large group. "Well, once you pass those doors, you'll be free and back to your regular lives. As one of the King's personal Knights, I will do what I can to get rid of this Magistrate and somehow compensate you all for what he's put you through."

No one needed a second invitation. Everyone wanted to leave that forsaken manor as soon as possible. Of course, they thanked the group for freeing them as they passed by on their way to the door. All except three people left.

"Excuse me," Kotarou said, tugging at Eli's sleeve. "Where's Onee-chan?"

"Onee-chan?" Eli repeated.

"Ah, those are Nico's siblings," Honoka said, recognizing them.

"Now that you mention it," Hanayo said, looking around. "I don't think I saw her or Kotori walk in with you all."

"Eh? Weren't they following us?" Rin asked.

"M-maybe they got distracted by something," Honoka said. "I'll go look for them!"

Before anyone could react, Honoka had left the room. Maki was about to go after her, but Maria caught her by the arm.

"I wouldn't worry if I were you," Maria said.

"Why do you say that?" Maki asked.

Maria shrugged. "Just intuition."

* * *

><p>The Magistrate, having been thrown against the wall, fell to his knees. Barely able to focus, he looked around his office. On either end of the room were the collapsed, unconscious forms of two muscular men.<p>

_My two best henchmen,_ he thought to himself. _Taken out so easily…_

He still couldn't believe something like this had happened. He picked these two as personal body guards for being the toughest of his henchmen. With them around, he was supposed to be absolutely safe.

Something slammed in front of him, bringing him back from his thoughts. He looked up at one of the weapons used to put him into this hopeless situation, as well as looked into the face of its wielder. Though she was wearing grey instead of black, the scythe made him associate her with a grim reaper.

_Fitting, because I feel like I'm about to die._

"Oh don't worry, I'm not the one who has the grudge," the scythe-wielder said, as if reading his thoughts. He realized his face probably gave it away. The girl stepped away, and her friend started walking closer.

And if he wasn't absolutely terrified before, he definitely was now.

"Y-you," he stammered.

"Good, you remember who I am," the short twintailed girl said. "Then what's coming next won't come as a complete shock to you."

How could he not forget? About a week ago, he was laughing at this same girl as she was held down by the two henchmen now unconscious in the room. He enjoyed that pained expression as his men took the kids away from her, and enjoyed how powerful he felt as he taunted the girl.

Now, the tables were turned.

"You picked the wrong older sister to mess with," the girl continued. "And unfortunately for you, it'll be the last mistake you ever make."

He had no chance to react. In one swift motion, the girl had aimed her pistol and shot. He was only aware she was even holding the gun a split second before the bullet struck him.

Kotori watched as the Magistrate's now lifeless body fell forward. She only felt a little sorry for him, but only very briefly. He got exactly what he deserved, she knew.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the office door move, very slightly. She almost thought she was imaging things, until she heard a very soft thud. Moving to the door, she pulled it open, and was terrified by what she saw.

It was Honoka, on her knees sitting in the middle of the hallway. Her eyes were just staring blankly ahead of her. Kotori didn't need to guess why.

"You saw everything, didn't you?"

Honoka slowly nodded.

Kotori sighed. "Look, Honoka. I know you probably think we shouldn't have killed him, and that we should have just had him arrested so he could answer for his crimes, but-"

"That's not it." Honoka's voice shook a little. "I can understand why you let Nico kill him… but…"

Kotori noticed that Honoka's voice got shakier as she continued to speak. When Honoka finally looked up at Kotori, her eyes were full of tears.

"What if someone finds out about this, and then finds out that you were one of the people who did it?"

Kotori was a bit lost. "Uh… I don't-"

"Kotori, don't you remember? I snuck you out of the castle prison. Our families don't like each other. You already had a bounty on you even before we left Zenethra. I don't want anything to bad to happen to you. But if you get caught after all this…" she shook her head as more tears fell freely down her face.

To her surprise, Honoka felt Kotori's hands leave her shoulders to wrap around her as she was pulled close to Kotori.

"That's not going to happen," Kotori said gently.

"How- how can you be so sure?" Honoka asked, trying to control her sobs.

"Because I have someone who cares for me and for who I am, and there's no way I'm going to upset her by being caught."

Honoka felt Kotori's hug around her tighten, and she knew now what Kotori meant. Without really thinking, she returned the hug, and found herself thinking of how warm Kotori felt right now.

"If you two don't mind…"

Nico's voice brought the two back to their senses. Realizing that they were still hugging each other, they quickly separated, still on their knees. They looked away from each other, and Nico saw the red tints coloring both their faces. She rolled her eyes.

"We should probably dispose of this if we don't want to leave any evidence," she said, the Magistrate's body thrown over her shoulder.

"R-right," Kotori answered.

"W-we should hurry," Honoka suggested. "Everyone's worried about you two."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, nobodD here! (finally)<strong>

**So, I'm super sorry that this chapter took soo long for me to finish T.T I've been really busy the last few weeks. I won't bore you with details, just a lot of personal things that have come up. And the stress is starting to take a toll on me.**

**On top of that, this chapter was just extremely long. It's now the longest single FanFic document I've written. **

**Anyway, onto the happier/normal-sounding portion of my notes.**

**So something I introduced early in this chapter, and that I want to be using a lot more of, is the idea of macros. The basic idea is that macros are shortcuts to casting spells and using techniques faster. I had a discussion with one of you guys about the characters having to chant spells and "calling out" their special moves, which got me to rethink how I do fights. For me, I don't mind still writing out the move names themselves, so that you guys know what's happening. But I'm going to get rid of the whole "chanting" portion for spells, EXCEPT for really powerful spells. I feel like insanely strong spells should still need to be chanted and no one should be able to use a shortcut to use them. But for the most part, spells will just have their names said and I'll still describe what the spell does.**

**So here's something I really enjoyed coming up with the idea to: Nico's style. First off, the whole magic bullet thing. In a lot of games, or at least a lot of JRPGs I've played, the characters that use guns/bows/crossbows, just never run out of ammo (no complaints here, ammo counts suck X3). With Nico I didn't want ammo to be a problem either, so I tried to give an explanation relevant to this story on why that won't happen.**

**As for why Nico uses two guns and elemental enchantments, well I just thought it was a cool idea X3. Though, Nico's magic will only be limited to elementally enchanting weapons. If she could do anything else with magic along with using her guns, that'd be way too good X3 Also it would clash with an idea I have for later on in the story.**

**Here's something you might have found odd or at least interesting. Why did I give Eli a scythe, and not a sword like you'd expect from a knight? A few reasons:**

**Kotori has a sword, Honoka has a rapier, and Rin has knives/daggers. I needed someone with a longer raged melee weapon to "balance" the party out.**

**This reason will be made clear later :D**

**I think scythes are cool. Noticing a theme here? X)**

**Okay for the record, I don't have a thing against parents. Again, pulling from my experiences with JRPGs, most of the time the parents of the main characters are either never mentioned or dead. Since this story is styled after a JRPG series, if I ever mention parents for a character's back story, aside from Kotori and Honoka's (who we know are alive), it's most likely going to be a sad back story.**

**So… the ending of this chapter was fairly dark. Actually, it could've been a lot worse, but I have to keep this story T. So, nothing very graphic. Also, I was going to go in a different direction with Kotori and Honoka's conversation at the end, but then I remembered that this needs to turn into a romance story later. So, I thought I'd throw in that conversation to end the scene instead X3**

**I am SO sorry that I wrote so much. Even my notes are really long T.T I thank you though, for putting up with and reading through everything. I would love to hear your comments and questions in reviews as always.**

**Alrighty, FINALLY done with this chapter. I won't try and guess how long the next chapter will take me, because that always goes wrong it seems. X3**

**Whether it's the next chapter or the preview of a new story I'm thinking of starting, I hope to see you next time!~**


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